


You Found Me

by tiramisubites



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Spoilers, Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Spoilers, Eventual Romance, F/M, Friendship, Hydra (Marvel), Marvel Universe, Superheroes, The Avengers - Freeform, WinterWitch-Freeform, Wiped Memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-07-03 22:28:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 49,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15828189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiramisubites/pseuds/tiramisubites
Summary: What if Wanda and Pietro had trained with the Winter Soldier while they were volunteering for HYDRA? What if further down the road, while helping Captain America search for his friend, Wanda comes across a familiar face?





	1. Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is my first attempt at a fanfic so please bear with me if there are any issues. The beginning may be a bit slow so I apologize for that. I'm still trying to get to know the characters more.  
> Anyway, I don't own any of these characters or their stories, unfortunately.

Wanda Maximoff looked at the card in her hand. She was still trying to absorb what the card meant when her twin brother, Pietro, reached out and took it from her hands.

“This is what we’ve been waiting for, sister,” he said.

Wanda shook her head.

“I don’t know, Pietro. This all seems kind of sketchy, don’t you think?”

Brown eyes met brown and she could read his uncertainty.

“But it’s all we have right now. Who knows when we might get another opportunity like this again?” he answered in a low voice.

Wanda nervously bit her lip.

“I don’t know. I have a weird feeling about this, brother. It just seems too good to be true. We couldn’t even find anything on the doctor, how do we know he’s legit?”

Pietro sighed.

“Look, Wand, if you really don’t feel comfortable doing this then don’t. I can go by myself. I don’t want to force you to do anything,” Pietro said, reaching across to hold her hand.

Wanda felt her heart ache at the thought of letting her brother head into this alone.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Pietro. Wherever you go, I go.”

“And I’ll go wherever you go as well,” he said, squeezing her hand.

Taking a deep breath as if to gather her courage, Wanda gave Pietro a smile.

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s call this Dr. List.”

 

_____________________

Three months had passed since the Maximoff twins walked into List’s office and officially became lab rats for HYDRA. Neither of them had known who they were going to work for until after they had signed away their life.

After weeks of being tortured by the scepter, Pietro and Wanda noticed changes in themselves, like how Pietro felt time slow down at times, or how he seemed to always be hungry or heal quickly. Wanda noticed how sometimes she’d feel energy coursing through her, begging for release, or how if she closed her eyes and cleared her mind she’d _know_ things. Things like how she and her brother were the only survivors of HYDRA’s experimentations and that soon she and Pietro would meet again, but only to be tested on some more.

When that day did come, Wanda and Pietro stared at each other in shock.

Pietro’s brown hair had started turning silver, nearly white. And his eyes were a bright blue instead of the warm brown he’d always had.

Wanda’s eyes had also turned to a bright blue resembling the scepter that had been used on them. Her once dark brown hair was now tinted red and flowed wildly around her instead of falling limply down her back.  

After the shock wore off, the sibling ran towards each other and embraced. The guards standing by moved to break them apart but Dr. List stopped them with a wave of his hand. These were his treasures and he would allow them a few moments together before separating them again.

They deserved that much after putting him on Strucker’s good side.

_____________________

“List, how is the doctor doing?” Strucker asked with a grin as soon as List walked into his office.

“I’m doing very well sir, thank you for asking,” List answered, clearing his throat.

Strucker nodded.

“I assume you just finished with the Twins?” he asked the doctor.

With a nod, List placed two files for the Maximoff twins on his desk. Strucker picked them up and browsed through the information.

“It’s better than we could have imagined, sir,” he began.

“The boy was easy to figure out. He kept speeding around the room becoming invisible to the eye.”

Strucker raised an eyebrow.

“He became invisible?” Strucker asked.

The doctor shook his head.

“Not necessarily. He moved at such fast speed that he became invisible to the naked human eye. His movements were caught on our cameras, but even then, it is hard to see him unless the speed is slowed down.”

“And the girl?” Strucker asked.

“ She was a harder one to figure out but after a few minutes with her I caught on.”

Dr. List pulled up a chair to Strucker’s desk and spoke in a lowered voice.

“The girl can get into the mind. She was answering all of the questions I had in my notes without me opening my mouth. When I asked her about it, she said she could see the paper as if it was right in front of her.”

Strucker looked taken aback.

“I had one of the guards come in and before he stepped inside, I asked her to make him punch the wall. She closed her eyes and after a few minutes he walked up to the wall and broke his hand on it. And the best part is that he had no idea she was even in his mind,” List finished with a triumphant smile.

Strucker grinned.

“Well doctor, congratulations! You’ve created the next weapons of HYDRA, deadlier even, than the Asset. Alexander will be pleased, I’m sure,” he said.

List’s smile grew.

“I’ve begun working on new exercises for the Twins to get them to use their powers to their full capacity. I think there might be more about their powers that we don’t know, so I’ll keep adjusting the tests as we learn more.”

Strucker nodded.

“Very well. Keep me informed about any advances there may be. I’ll inform Pierce about this. He may want to send the Asset in earlier than planned, so prepare them for that.”

List made a note in his paperwork.

“I can give you my word that within two weeks the Twins will be ready to train with the Winter Soldier,” he said.

“Excellent,” Strucker responded with a smirk.


	2. Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter the twins are finally introduced to the Winter Soldier. They are to begin training with him so that they can learn how to win in a physical fight instead of always relying on their powers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Here’s the second chapter to my fanfic. It’s a bit longer than the first, and hopefully a little more exciting. Characters may be a bit OOC and I apologize for that. I didn’t realize until now how difficult it would be to write interactions between characters that don’t normally interact in the movies. Oh well. Enjoy!   
> Also, I don’t own any of these characters or their histories.

“Wanda, are you there?” an amused voice asked from beside her.

Turning her head, Wanda looked at her brother. She still couldn’t believe his hair was mostly all silver by now.

“I’m sorry, what?” she asked.

“Where are you?” her brother asked.

“I’ve been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes,” he said, flicking a pea at her.

Rolling her eyes, Wanda resumed eating.

“I’m just tired, Pietro. Unlike you, I have to exercise my body  _ and _ mind,” she said.

“Oh whatever,” he said. 

“You’re just jealous that you don’t have super speed like me. Or any other cool powers.”

Wanda scoffed.

“Yeah? At least my powers will help in battle for figuring out what the opposite side is planning to do,” she answered, shoving her brother with her shoulder.

As Pietro had his cup up to take a drink of his orange juice, it spilled down his shirt, causing Wanda to quietly giggle as her brother glared at her.

“Thanks sis, this is just what I needed to start my day,” he said, pouting dramatically for effect.

“Oh Pietro, don’t be such a baby. Vitamin C is great for you,” she managed to get out between her snickers.

As the twins resumed eating, the doors opened and one of the guards called out for them.

Quickly getting up and dumping their trays, the siblings silently followed the man into a room that resembled a school gym, except instead of hardwood floor, there was dark blue padding.

“Wait here for your next task,” he said gruffly and left the twins alone in the room.

“Do you think we’re being watched?” Pietro whispered to her.

Wanda closed her eyes and made her mind blank. Slowly, a picture of them came to her. They were being watched from another room on the second floor. She noticed that she could jump from one mind to another with the image staying the same. There was more than one person.

_ Yes, _ she thought to her twin, opening her eyes and looking at the room around her. Pietro took a step closer to her and held on to her hand, ready to protect her should anything go wrong. 

The doors to their right opened and in came Dr. List, Strucker, and two men the twins have never seen. The one with greying red hair stood tall and proud, and Wanda could sense right away that this man held more power than Strucker. The second man was hidden behind a curtain of chin-length black hair despite standing straight, and he had a bit of a limp on his left side. As they came closer Wanda noticed a metal gleam coming from the second man’s arm and she heard her brother’s inaudible gasp, confirming her suspicions. 

_ The Winter Soldier, _ she thought.

She and her brother had heard a lot about him during their stay with HYDRA. He was HYDRA’s pride, their most beloved killing machine.

At least, he would be until the twins were fully trained. 

“Pierce, I’d like to introduce you to the twins. They will be the new face of HYDRA in coming years. Along with the Asset, they will be unstoppable,” Strucker said as the men moved to stand in front of the twins. 

Wanda unconsciously took a step closer to her brother. Four eyes snapped to her and the hand she was grasping on to.

“It looks like they’re rather close,” the man named Pierce said with a frown.

“Yes, sir,” answered the doctor.

“We kept them apart during the beginning stages hoping that it would cause a gap between them, but it didn’t change anything. We figured it would be safe to keep them together so they would be less likely to misbehave,” he finished, looking at the twins. 

Pietro shifted next to Wanda. She could tell he was as uncomfortable as she was at being talked about like they weren’t there. She sent out a calming energy towards him, urging him to keep still.

“Her eyes,” Pierce said, “Why are they glowing red?”

Wanda stilled. She had no idea what he was talking about.

“Her eyes do that every now and then,” the List answered once more.

“We figured it has something to do with her powers itching to be used,” Strucker added with a chuckle. 

Pierce glanced at Wanda and Pietro before turning to the man next to him. Wanda tried to sense something from him, but she felt nothing. It was almost as if he were a machine instead of human. 

“Soldier? What do you think?” Pierce asked. Wanda got the feeling he didn’t really care about what the soldier had to say, but he was asking for the sake of appearances. Whether it was for the twins or the two other men, Wanda didn’t know.

“With proper training they could surpass even me, sir,” the Soldier answered in a deep, raspy voice.

“And they will,” Pierce answered without missing a beat.

X_X_X

The gymnasium was split in two by a wall. Pietro took the side with the one-way window, claiming that he didn’t want old creeps looking at his baby sister. Wanda rolled her eyes, but agreed to let him take it. She didn’t work as well when she was being watched. 

While she was waiting for her one-on-one training with the Winter Soldier she felt a burst of energy flow through her. She had gotten these feelings often, but she didn’t know what it meant. 

With a frustrated sigh Wanda kicked the chair that had been provided to her. It tipped over and Wanda reached out to stop it’s fall when red mist came out of her hands, surrounding the chair. She stood frozen as the chair floated mid fall in front of her. 

WIth a gasp, the red disappeared and the chair fell. Wanda walked backwards until her back hit the wall. 

“What the hell?” she muttered to herself, looking at her hands.

It hadn’t hurt, she noted. In fact, it relieved some of the anxiousness she had been feeling earlier. 

Walking back to the middle of the room, Wanda raised her hands.

Feeling completely ridiculous, she willed the red to come out again.

Nothing happened.

Slightly embarrassed, she tried again, willing the red to carry the chair again.

This time she noticed the warmth spread to her fingertips right before the red mist came out again, engulfing the chair and lifting it off of the floor.

A hysterical giggle spilled from her lips and she set the chair down.

The door opened and she turned to face whoever was coming in.

The Winter Soldier paused at the entrance and she realized that she still had a grin on her lips. Reigning in her emotions, she managed to control her joy to a small, shy smile.

As the door closed behind him, he made his way to where she was standing. Wanda took this time to observe him. The first thing she noticed was how tall he was. It seemed that the closer he got the more she had to glance up. She’d be willing to bet he was taller than Pietro.

Then she noticed his hair. It was longer than most men wore it and it was ridiculously greasy. She couldn’t judge him for that though. Since joining HYDRA Wanda had only been allowed one shower every two weeks. She figured it was the same for him.

As he came to a stop in front of her she had to crane her neck back to keep looking at him. 

He was incredibly handsome, Wanda noted. But what caught her attention the most were his eyes. They were a dark, sapphire blue. And while that alone would’ve been beautiful, she noticed how blank they were. She couldn’t help the sadness that passed through her. 

As she tried to read him again, she got the same result as the first time.

Nothing.

“Wanda Maximoff, correct?” he asked. 

She nodded her head and noticed that in the time he’d walked over to her, she’d folded into herself.

Shaking her head a bit, Wanda stood up straight.

“Yes, sir,” she amended. 

“How much experience with hand to hand combat do you have?” he asked in his deep voice. The rasping wasn’t there anymore, which she assumed was because he’d been talking with Pietro during their time together. However, she did notice a strange accent beneath the Russian one he had.

Remembering the question, she answered, “I don’t have much experience. Pietro always fought my fights for me.”

Wanda smiled at the memory.

“Then we’ll start with basic self defense,” he said, turning from her and walking a few feet away.

“I’ll attack first and I want you to defend yourself however you can without using your powers,” he said, cracking his neck.

Wanda stood nervously and pulled at her sleeves. 

“I don’t know where to start. What am I supposed to do?” she asked.

“Protect yourself. Don’t let me get the upper hand,” he said.

Then he lunged.


	3. Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our leading characters finally get some cute moments together! And we get a bit of Bucky POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So this is a little bit slow, action wise, but we finally get cute moments with our leading characters! Also, this is my first attempt at Bucky’s POV. Please let me know what you think, if it was too OOC or anything. I adore criticism.  
> FYI none of these characters are mine, nor are their backgrounds.

“Oof,” Wanda exhaled as she fell onto her bed. 

She’d gotten a new room since she started physical training. It was right next to Pietro’s and on her other side was the Soldier’s. He was meant to keep them in check.

Wanda sighed and rolled over, smooshing her face into her pillow.

She felt someone else coming into her personal space and whipped around, wrapping her red mist around the other person’s neck. 

“Well hello to you, too, Wand,” he said with a smirk on his face.

“What the hell, Pietro?” she whispered, glancing at the door.

“What?” he replied as she let him down. “I wanted to check up on you, see how you’re doing after your first week of training with the Metal Man.”

Wanda rolled her eyes and made room for Pietro to sit next to her on the bed.

“Awful,” she started, “He keeps getting mad at me for not being able to get a single punch in. Who even wants to get punched?” she asked.

Her brother chuckled.

“It’s his job, Wand. And you should be learning as much as you can from him, soon we’ll have to join him for missions and eventually go on our own,” he told her.

Wanda nodded.

“At least I can defend myself now with only one or two bruises,” she offered.

The twins laughed at the memory of Wanda’s first day of training. Her whole body had been covered in bruises. Not because the Winter Soldier had hit her, but because she kept falling to the floor or running into walls in her attempts to avoid his fists.

“I’ve tried getting him to talk about himself, about HYDRA,” Pietro said after a while.

Wanda looked at him with shock.

“Pietro!” she angrily whispered.

“I know, I know,” he said, raising his hands in front of him. 

“But aren’t you curious? We know nothing about this organization except that they like to experiment on people and they’re the “bad guys” according to literally everyone,” he said, looking down at the bed.

Wanda felt a slight pounding begin in her head.

“Well? What did he say?” she asked.

Pietro shook his head.

“He wouldn’t talk about it. It was almost like he didn’t know himself, Wanda. He got this pained look when I asked him to tell me what he knew. It was almost too fast to catch, but, you know,” he said, waving a hand at himself. 

“Pietro,” Wanda began, “Try not to ask more than what we need to know. If he goes telling anyone, even Pierce, about us asking questions, we could get in trouble.”

Her brother nodded.

“And I know you’re fast, but it’s too risky coming into my room. For all we know, the Soldier could have super hearing and be listening in on our conversation right now,” she said. 

Both twins pressed their ears to the wall next to Wanda’s bed. Closing her eyes, Wanda searched next door and felt no one there.

Pietro was looking at her when she opened her eyes.

“What?” she asked.

“It’s weird seeing your eyes turn red,” he replied. “I could only see them dimming, though. I think they turn red whenever you use your powers. Or the mental ones, at least. It’s freaky,” he said.

Wanda smiled at him, mentally reaching forward and entering his mind.

She could see herself from his point of view before she was physically shoved backwards, breaking her concentration.

“Oi! No going into my head,” Pietro teasingly scolded her.

The twins laughed and spent the rest of the evening talking.

X_X_X

The Winter Soldier paced around the gymnasium.

He was to train the Maximoff girl in half an hour but he came down to the gym to get his mind in control.

Lately he’d been  _ thinking  _ things.

Things like how the Maximoff girl would get a little dent between her eyebrows whenever she knew she did a move wrong. How she would offer shy smiles whenever she got distracted and missed what he was teaching her. How her hair seemed to flow around her and gave her an otherworldly glow. How she grinned at him that first day he walked into the gymnasium, radiating excitement and wonder. 

He was the Winter Soldier, damn it, HYDRA’s personal killing machine. He should not be turning to mush just because a gorgeous smile was thrown his way, no matter that it came from an equally gorgeous girl.

The Soldier stopped his pacing and groaned.

This was not working.

The doors opened and he turned around to see the young girl he was thinking about walk in.

“Soldier,” she greeted.

“Ms. Maximoff,” he returned.

Taking a deep breath, he cleared his mind.

A small part of himself, a part buried deep down past all of HYDRA’s programming, prayed that she didn’t hear his thoughts.

X_X_X

“Again,” the Soldier ordered.

Wanda bit back a groan and charged at him again, her goal to knock him down.

Just when she thought she had him, he would twist out of her grasp and have her beneath him. 

_ Not that I mind _ , a small part of her thought. 

Eyes widening, Wanda quickly got out from under him before he could see the red taking over her face. 

_ Where did that come from?  _ She thought to herself.

She decided to get a drink of water before continuing their fight. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the Soldier do the same. 

_ Well, he  _ is _ handsome,  _ she thought, not bothering to hold back her own thoughts anymore.

_ And all his training has definitely given him a killer body. _

Wanda nearly choked on her water. Where was her self control? She told her brother to leave him alone and now here she was two days later, thinking about him in an inappropriate way. 

“Ready to go again?” came the emotionless voice of the Soldier.

“Yes, sir,” she said, capping her bottle and walking back to the center of the room. 

“Go,” her trainer said.

Wanda ran at him and tried every move she could to take him down. If she was being honest with herself, she was taking out her frustrations on him for causing her to think things she normally didn’t.

_ Is that fair, though? _ She asked herself.

In that moment, her back hit the floor one more time and she felt the Soldier’s body on top of hers.

This time not holding back her groan, she used all of her strength, including some from her powers, and flipped them over.

Both Wanda and the Winter Soldier were breathing heavily, not moving out of their positions.

The Soldier was trying not to think of exactly  _ why  _ his body suddenly felt hot, and was fighting back the urge to pull Wanda down flat against him.

It finally sunk into Wanda’s mind that she was on _ top _ of the Winter Soldier.

“Yes!” She yelled, getting up and doing a fist pump.

Laughter escaped her lips and she looked down at the shocked soldier.

“I beat you,” she simply said.

A twitch at the corner of his lips let Wanda know he was okay with her outburst. She offered her hand to help him stand and he took it.

“That you did. Finally,” he told her, amusement lacing his words.

Wanda grinned widely at him. 

She tried to ignore the tingling in her stomach when, after a few seconds, he returned her smile.


	4. More Training

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! This chapter is a little bit longer to make up for the fact that I posted so late today.  
> It was my favorite chapter to write so far, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!  
> And I don’t own anything. Not the characters or their stories.

_Week 3.5 of training with the Winter Soldier,_ Wanda thought.

 _I can now land a punch on his incredibly muscular chest_ , she kept thinking, admiring said chest as it came closer.

She fought back when the owner of that chest wrapped his also incredibly muscular arms around her upper body. Wanda heard him grunt when her legs connected with his shin and she took advantage of his pain to get out of his grasp.

_I’ve started flirting with him and I’m sure it’s fear that flashes on his face as he ignores my advances._

A closed fist came her way and she dodged.

_I’ve lowered myself to the lowest of lows and started training in only a sports bra. Thank the heavens Pietro isn’t in training with me or I’d never hear the end of it._

Wanda felt arms wrap around her again and tackle her to the floor.

She looked up to see the Soldier’s flushed face inches from her. His blue eyes staring into her own.

_I don’t know what this feeling is, but I’m scared and kind of excited..? I wish I could talk to someone about it._

Wanda glanced down at the Soldier’s lips before looking back up to his eyes.

“Wanda,” he whispered, his breath fanning over her face.

Both of them were frozen. Neither seemed to care that the Soldier was straddling her.

“Soldier,” she said in an equally soft voice.

His face was coming closer and she could practically hear her heart trying to beat its way out of her chest. She hoped he couldn’t hear that.

Not being able to take it any longer, Wanda craned her head up and met the Soldier’s lips with her own.

Fire spread from their connected lips and Wanda felt like she would explode.

The Winter Soldier grasped her hips and pushed himself closer to her, wanting more of whatever this feeling was. All he knew was that he would think about how soft her lips were for the rest of his days.

Wanda reached up to run her hands through his hair, which seemed to be the wrong thing to do.

In a blink of an eye, the Soldier was off of her and standing a yard away. Wanda slowly got up and observed him. Their eyes connected and she could feel the tension build.

“Wanda, I- I-,” he stuttered. The torn look on his face made her want to reach out and comfort him.

“Soldier,” Wanda said before pausing. She had no idea what to say to him.

“This shouldn’t have happened,” he finally said, quickly exiting the room.

Wanda stayed for another hour just staring at the wall.

She touched her lips and smiled.

 _Week 3.5 of training with the Winter Soldier,_ she thought.

 _We’ve kissed and he didn’t apologize. He’s not sorry. Though, he_ did _say it shouldn’t have happened, but he didn’t apologize. He doesn’t regret it._

Wanda giggled.

“He doesn’t regret it!” She said to herself, getting up and hugging herself.

After calming down she started walking towards the door. As she reached for the handle she noticed her hand. More importantly, the hand that had made it into his hair.

 _Ew,_ she thought as she opened the door. _I’m going to have to persuade List to allow us daily showers._

X_X_X

“Show me what we practiced yesterday,” Dr. List said through the speakers.

Wanda was working on her powers with him and other scientists but he always made sure to stay a safe distance away. Today she saw Pierce standing next to him.

Wanda closed her eyes for a brief second before opening them again and clearing her mind.

Red smoke began to spill from her hands and reach for the closest person, which happened to be the lab technician taking her vitals. She wove her desires into her powers and made them seep into the tech’s mind. He calmly put down his clipboard and left the room, only to return a minute later with a cup full of ice. Handing it to Wanda, he went to pick up his clipboard and continued as if nothing had happened.

Smugly, Wanda let her powers come back to her and put a piece of ice into her mouth.

“Again, but this time I want blood,” Pierce said.

Wanda froze and refused to look at the men.

“Maximoff, again,” List said this time.

Wanda closed her eyes and lifted her left hand, as the other one held her ice. She could feel her powers running free, searching for something to take hold of. She wrapped around the first mind she came in contact with and was surprised to learn it was a guard. There were no guards on the lab floor.

With a heavy heart, she saw through his eyes as he took his gun out of its holster. At Wanda’s insistence he aimed the gun at his foot and pulled the trigger.

She cringed at the sound that could be heard all the way up into the laboratory. She pulled her powers back into herself and opened her eyes to see Pierce looking at her with mild interest.

“Sir, we’ve received news of a wounded guard in level 5,” one of the tech’s told Pierce.

 _Five? But we’re on level three…,_ Wanda thought.

“Cause?” Pierce asked.

“We don’t know, sir. There was no danger at the time and no intruders as far as we can tell. He claims to have shot himself by his own will,” the tech informed him, glancing warily at Wanda.

She forced a grin on her face and watched with amusement as everyone in the room  flinched away.

“Thank you, you may go,” Pierce said.

“It could only be her,” List offered.

“Yes,” Pierce started, turning to the doctor and patting his shoulder. “Good job, List. Keep working with her. I’ll inform the Asset to incorporate their powers into training starting tomorrow.”

With a proud smile thrown her way, Pierce made his way out of the lab.

The technicians hesitantly came closer and started getting her unhooked from the machines. Wanda ate the remaining ice in her cup trying to feel cold anywhere else other than the ice that was settling into her heart.

X_X_X

Wanda was a nervous mess.

She stood facing the door to the gymnasium, terrified of entering. On the other side she could sense the Soldier’s anxiety.

Or maybe that was just her own and she was projecting it onto him. Besides, he was _the_ Winter Soldier. He didn’t have anxieties. Or at least, that’s what she’d grown to believe.

He was always so calm and… _empty,_ she thought sadly. After that first day she stopped trying to get into his mind, but it shook her to her core that someone could be so devoid of emotion. Without emotion was he even human?

But then again, she could _feel_ his anxiety through the doors. Wanda was sure that was his, not hers. She could also feel confusion and hopelessness.

Wanda’s heart ached at that.

Taking a deep breath, she entered the gym.

As soon as she stepped inside the Soldier turned to face her. Wanda wasn’t normally the blushing type, but she could feel heat spread from the roots of her hair down to her neck.

“Ms. Maximoff,” he greeted her gently, turning his back to her.

“Soldier,” she replied, walking over to where she normally kept her wraps and hair ties.

“Mr. Pierce informed me that he wants you using your powers in training from now on. You’re aware of this, correct?” he asked.

Wanda finished wrapping her hands and turned to face him, the heat still on her face.

“Yeah, I heard him telling Dr. List yesterday. I’m not sure how to do that though, most of what I can do it mental manipulation,” she said.

The Soldier nodded.

“Yes, and that will be useful. But I’ve read your file and you can do much more than that. Probably more than what the Doctor knows,” he said, looking straight into her eyes.

Wanda was the first to look away. Maybe it was her imagination, but his eyes seemed sharper than she remembered. Like they were trying to see beyond what she was showing him.

“We’ll start with the usual routine. During the practice I’ll do something new and I want you to be ready for it,” he said, coming closer to her.

“You want me to go into your head?” she asked, eyes wide.

His responding smile took her breath away.

“I knew you’d catch on,” he said, moving into position.

Hesitantly, Wanda moved in front of him.

“Go,” he said as he moved towards her.

Wanda struggled to enter his mind as he fought with her, but after a few tries she broke through and stumbled a bit in her movements after she did.

At first she felt really cold, like an empty building always did. Wandering around more, she was shocked to find it abnormally empty of memories, which she usually came across the first few seconds of entering someone’s mind.

Wanda tried going further but she came across a large steel wall. Hoping to find a door, Wanda gently touched the wall only to yank her hand back in surprise at how cold it was. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that the wall was covered in frost.

 _That’s odd,_ she thought to herself.

Before she could think about it more, a thought pushed at her.

 _Double kick,_ echoed around her in the Soldier’s deep voice.

Holding on to the Soldier’s mind, Wanda made her body react in time to his improvised fighting technique.

When she was out of danger, she focused again on the Soldier’s mind. However, this time she decided to go to his most accessible thoughts.

Walking back to the front of his mind, Wanda found herself watching herself.

 _Huh,_ she thought to herself, _So that’s how my eyes look. I can see now why Pietro said it was freaky. I look possessed._

Wanda saw a smile grow on her face.

 _Focus_ , the Soldier commanded. She was about to apologize when she saw him shake his head from her own eyes.

Confused, Wanda walked closer to what she imagined to be the front of his mind.

 _Gorgeous,_ slammed right into her, followed by, _How can she make fighting look so elegant._

Wanda froze as she realized these were his thoughts running through his head right now.

As suddenly as these thoughts slammed into her, they were gone and she was left empty again.

 _Don’t think about it,_ came circling around her. It was dizzying and she was going crazy with thoughts that were knocking around her, forced back by his repeated, _don’t think about it._

With a frustrated groan, Wanda pulled back into her own mind.

“Stop,” she said, holding a hand out towards the Soldier.

Exhaustion came rushing through her and she bent over as she found herself barely able to stand.

“Wanda, are you alright?” the Soldier asked.

He came close and offered her a hand. Taking it, she let him guide her to her side of the gym. He reached for a water bottle and handed it to her.

Wanda took a small sip as she closed her eyes and leaned against the wall.

“Thank you, Soldier,” she said.

“You’re welcome,” he said. She felt him rest against the wall next to her.

“How was it doing both at the same time?” the Soldier asked her.

“It was strangely exhausting,” she answered. “I could do everything just fine, but as soon as I came into my own mind it was like I hadn’t slept in weeks.

Wanda felt the Soldier hesitate.

“Well, it was quite impressive. There wasn’t much in your file about mind reading so I wanted to test that out first and see how much you could do,” he told her.

Wanda opened her eyes and turned to look at him. A small smile played on his lips and she grinned.

“To be honest, I hadn’t experimented with that as much as everything else. List is more focused on mental manipulation. I’ve only read minds a handful of times before,” she admitted to him. “It must be why I can’t read every single thought someone thinks.”

The Soldier turned and offered her a grin that turned her mind to mush.

“I’m glad, I wouldn’t want you reading into my personal thoughts. It ruins the whole ‘dark and mysterious’ vibe I’ve got going on,” he said.

Wanda was stunned for a second before she burst into laughter. She found herself leaning on him as she tried to control her laughter, focusing on his soft chuckles as she tried to calm down.

Wanda looked up at the Soldier with a smile on her face and melted at the happiness on his as he looked down at her.

Then without warning, his lips were on hers.

As if on instinct, Wanda kissed him back.

She felt his hand gently touch her cheek and she took that as invitation to reach up towards him.

Slowly, Wanda slid her hand up his chest and around his neck. A moan vibrated against her lips and she wrapped her arms around the Soldier and pulled him closer.

She felt him grasp her waist and pull her against him. She gasped as she felt his desire poking at her stomach and he took that moment to suck gently at her bottom lip. Wanda felt heat run through her and was embarrassed to feel moisture between her legs.

Pulling back with a chuckle, the Soldier leaned his forehead against Wanda’s.

Unaware of when she had closed her eyes, Wanda opened them to look into the bright blue eyes of the man in front of her.

“You’ll be the undoing of me, Wanda Maximoff,” he promised before kissing her lips one more time and calmly walking out of the gym.

Wanda stood frozen in her place, listening to the erratic beating of her heart.

She shook her head before muttering to herself, “What the hell?”


	5. Progress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! I’m sorry for posting this so late again (it’s nearing midnight where I am). This one is another longish one. It might be a bit boring but I wanted to make sure this story was more than just WinterWitch moments. I’ll leave that for another fanfic.  
> Anyway, like always, I don’t own any of these characters or anything relating to them.

_ What the hell?  _ the Winter Soldier thought to himself. 

His mind was a storm of emotions and thoughts he’d never had before and it was frustrating him.

_ Right after you told her the kiss shouldn’t have happened you go and kiss her again!  _

Mentally, the Soldier had given himself a good beating. In the real world though, he was emotionless as he walked down the hallways down to meet with Pierce. The man had insisted in a report of the twin’s first practice with their powers. Stopping at the door leading to the office, the Soldier knocked once. 

“Come in,” came out the reply.

Walking in, the Soldier stood in front of the desk for five minutes before Alexander Pierce finally glanced up from his computer.

“Report, Soldier?” he asked.

“Today’s practice went well,” replied the Soldier. “ The boy was nearly invisible in the fight making it impossible to land a hit.”

“That’s good,” Pierce said, typing notes onto his computer. 

“Would you say he’s good to go onto the field?” he asked.

The Soldier thought about it for a second.

“If the goal is to distract, yes. However I don’t think his fighting skills are enough to fight on a mission. We’ve been practicing one-on-one which can be rare on the missions we do for HYDRA. I’ve also been thinking about working on his strength so that he can be useful for evacuation,” the Soldier answered honestly.

“Get started on that for tomorrow, then,” Pierce said.

The Soldier nodded and moved on to his next topic.

“The Maximoff girl showed her ability to read her opponent’s mind while being active in a fight. She used her powers to anticipate her attacker’s moves and avoid being hit,” he said.

“That will be useful for future attacks,” Pierce said, already thinking of where he’d like to send her to. 

“Sir, if I may,” interrupted the Soldier. At Pierce’s nod, he continued. “The girl’s powers drained her during training today. I would give her more time to adjust to them before sending her out as well.”

Pierce leaned back in his chair and considered his options. 

He was eager to get the twins out onto the floor and join the Asset for missions. However, the Soldier still had his doubts about their strength. He could give them another month and then have them do a test run. At different times, so that HYDRA could keep them in control should something go wrong. These kids were something new to him and he was unsure of how to proceed.

“Very well,” began Pierce. “From now on the boy will be training with Rumlow and his team. There he will gain the experience needed to fight multiple men at once. I’ll also tell Rumlow to work on his strength.”

The Soldier nodded.

“As for the girl… I want you to keep training with her. I’ll give you both access to the north field and I want you to take her out to practice real scenarios. If she can detect a Soldier like you sneaking up on her, she’ll be able to sense anything. I also want you present in her training with List so you can understand her powers better and find a way to incorporate those into her fighting style,” Pierce said, furiously typing on his computer.

The Soldier nodded before turning to leave, fighting the small flicker of happiness growing in him at having to spend more time with Wanda.

X_X_X

“Pietro, I’m telling you this as your sister, because I want you to live a long, happy life… You need to dye your hair back to brown,” Wanda said with as much seriousness as she could muster.

Pietro snorted and shoved her away.

“Please. You’re just jealous that my hair’s blonde and yours isn’t. Don’t think I don’t know you’ve always secretly wanted blonde hair,” he said, opening the door for her as they walked out into the “backyard” as they called it.

It was only a fenced area where the guards could go during their free time but no body used it, so List had gotten them access to the area. “To burn off energy,” he had said.

“I’m serious, brother. It washes you out. And those roots are absolutely horrendous,” she said, flipping her hair back.

Pietro’s laughter echoed around the open field as the twins walked around the courtyard.

“So how’s your training going?” he asked. 

It felt weird to ask her something like that, as he was so used to doing everything with her and just knowing from experience. 

“It’s alright,” Wanda said, fighting off the blush that threatened to rise.

Pietro immediately noticed.

“Whoa, what’s that? Are you actually blushing? Wanda you have to tell me everything,” he said, pulling her to a stop. 

Wanda looked around and made sure there was no one near.

“The Soldier and I may have kissed… a couple of times,” Wanda finally admitted. 

She would’ve found her brother’s open mouth and wide eyes funny if the situation were different, but at the moment she was terrified of his response. 

“Wanda!” he whispered yell.

No one could have heard them, but Wanda still made shushing motions and glanced around them.

“I know Pietro, I’m-” but she was cut off.

“How was it? Did he kiss good? What did he taste like? Smell like? Wanda-” but this time she cut him off.

“Pietro?” she asked, the “ _ what the hell?” _ clear in her tone.

“What?” he asked. “You’re the more thoughtful one of us two, which is why your powers are related to the mind. I know you know the dangers of getting close to him, but if you think you can do it then I won’t stop you. Besides, when was the last time you kissed a guy?” 

At this Wanda groaned.

“Year five, wasn’t it? When that Luka guy kissed you during recess?” he asked, a slight teasing to his words.

“If you weren’t my brother I would have thrown you across this field,” Wanda said throwing him a glare.

His resulting laughter was cut short when the doors to the field opened and Pierce walked out.

Afraid of doing something wrong, the twins stood up straight and kept their mouths shut. Their eyes were glued to Pierce’s movements, which seemed to be bringing him closer. 

“Hello Pietro, Wanda,” he greeted with a smile. 

“Hello Mr. Pierce,” the twins answered hesitantly.

“Please, call me Alexander,” he said, his face softening. “I realize we haven’t had the chance to talk much, so when List said I’d find you out here I came as soon as I could.”

Wanda looked at Pietro and he returned her questioning stare. 

“Did you need something, sir?” Pietro asked.

“Oh, no, not at all. I just wanted to chat. Get to know you two. I know you’re afraid of me, if that look was anything to go by, but you don’t need to. I’m your friend here. In fact, I admire you so much for the work you’re doing for HYDRA,” he said, placing a hand on each twin.

Wanda got a read on him while his hand was on her shoulder and she could tell his words were true. Before she could dig in deeper, he took his hands off.

“I know how hard it is to work for HYDRA. All the things you have to give up and all the struggles you have to go through. Working with the Winter Soldier is no easy thing and I really respect you two for being able to stand your ground against him,” Pierce said.

“Mr. Pierce,” Wanda said, needing to stop his praise.

“Please Wanda, call me Alexander,” he said with a gentle smile.

“Right. Um, Alexander-” but she was cut off.

“You know, you remind me a lot of my daughter. She’s reserved and doesn’t talk much, but when she does, people are blown away by her intelligence,” he said. “I imagine it’s the same with you, with your powers. At least, from what I’ve seen. And by the way, I do apologize for what happened the other day with your training. I hated having to make you do something like that but I hope you understand it’s part of the job,” he continued.

Wanda was beginning to wonder if he would ever shut up.

“It’s alright, Mr. Pier… Alexander,” she corrected.

He smiled at her before turning to her brother.

“Pietro, I’ve heard such wonderful things about you from my soldier. According to him, you could be on your way to going out on missions soon,” he said. 

Wanda’s heart clenched at the thought of her brother going out into battle.

“In fact, we’re switching you off to another trainer, Brock Rumlow. He’ll help you get an idea of what it’s really like in everyday missions for HYDRA. The Soldier, while the best of the best, doesn’t take on as many missions as Rumlow.”

Pietro furrowed his eyebrows before a grin broke across his features. 

“Yes, sir, I can’t wait to start,” her brother said.

“Very well,” Pierce said, “It was great getting to talk with you two. We’ll have to set up more times to chat,” he said, turning around and going back inside the building.

Wanda’s heart was left feeling uneasy as her brother began to talk about “this exciting new opportunity to prove ourselves.”

X_X_X

A timid knock shook the Soldier out of his sleep.

Cautiously, he neared the door and listened for activity on the other side.

“Soldier? Are you awake?” the barely audible voice of Wanda reached his ears. He quickly opened the door and pulled her in.

“Wanda, what are you doing here?” he asked in a whisper. Glancing at his alarm clock told him it was ten to midnight. 

“I couldn’t sleep,” she said before her eyes widened. “I mean, I was sleeping just fine but then I had a nightmare and I couldn’t go to sleep after that and I remember Alexander saying that if we ever needed anything to go to him or you and I just thought that since you’re closer-” 

The Soldier stopped her rambling with a finger to her lips.

“Wanda, breathe. Come here, sit on the bed,” he said, gently pulling her towards his bed. As she sat down he pulled his desk chair over to her and sat across from her. 

“I’m sorry,” Wanda said, looking at the floor, causing her hair to fall around her and cover her face.

“I was just so scared when I woke up and it made sense to come to you. But I can see that I’ve woken you. I’m sorry,” she said, softer than he’s ever heard her. 

Something inside him ached for the girl sitting on his bed. 

“It’s alright, Wanda. My door is always open to you and your brother. It’s my job as your trainer to help you in whatever you need,” he said, lifting her head up and looking into her eyes. He was shocked to find tears.

_ This wasn’t in my training, _ he thought to himself, but put on the appearance of a listening friend.

_ Or at least I hope that’s what I’m portraying, _ he thought.

Wanda could tell he was uncomfortable. It was rolling off of him in waves, but she appreciated his attempt at comforting her. 

Wiping away the tears in her eyes, Wanda told him about her nightmare.

“I’m just scared that something might happen to him,” she finally told him, getting to the root of her distress.

“Pietro’s the only family I have left. If something were to happen to him I think I’d die,” she said, wringing her hands.

Another set of hands grasping her own made her look up. The Soldier’s eyes bore into her own and she could feel a sense of peace at that moment.

“I won’t lie to you, Wanda,” he said. “Missions can be dangerous. Sometimes we lose soldiers. But,” he paused, bringing her hands up to his lips and placing a gentle kiss on them.

“I promise you I’ll look out for your brother when I take him with me,” he said.

Relief washed through Wanda and she threw her arms around the Soldier. 

“Thank you, Soldier,” she said. “It means a lot to me.”

_ You shouldn’t be doing this, _ he scolded himself.

The Soldier hesitated for a breath before wrapping his arms around Wanda.

“Anything for you, Little Witch,” he said, pressing his lips to the side of her head.


	6. What is Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Sorry for not updating yesterday, but hopefully I’ll make it up with this chapter. It’s longer than the rest and a little quicker than previous ones. I think we’re getting close to some major drama with our characters.   
> Speaking of characters, I don’t own them or their histories.

“I want you to close your eyes and focus on your surroundings. Your powers are more than what any of us know, don’t be afraid to use them. They will forever be a part of you, no one can take that away.”

Wanda closed her eyes and listened to the soothing voice of the Soldier. Mentally she envisioned her powers spreading around her and taking inventory of everything around her.

The plants.

The animals.

The Soldier.

As her powers focused on him she could see the Soldier standing there, just as if she were looking at him with her own eyes. Her insides clenched as the wind blew his hair back and the sun hit his eyes at an angle, making them appear as clear and blue as the sky. 

His lashes gently brushed his rose-tinted cheeks when he blinked and Wanda couldn’t help but notice they were the same color as his lips. She found herself looking forward to outside training if only to be able to see the Winter Soldier in a halo of the daylight. 

Then, without warning, she saw him throw a weapon at her. Raising her hand up, Wanda opened her eyes to see the dagger frozen a foot from her face, held up with her powers. With a flick of her wrist, it flew right back to the Soldier who easily caught it with his left arm. 

“I didn’t know you could hold objects,” he said.

Wanda froze, remembering that she still hadn’t brought that up during her training with List.

“Yeah, um, me neither,” she mumbled looking down at the ground. 

She felt him walk closer and gently lift her head up.

“Wanda, I need you to be completely honest with me. You don’t want to tell List? That’s fine, you have your reasons. But I ask that you trust me. I only want to help you protect yourself in case I’m unable to. Alright?” he asked, running his thumb across her cheek.

She could see in his eyes that he had more to say. A part of her hoped he’d say what he felt so she could also admit it to herself. 

Before she knew it, the Soldier was stepping back.

“Lift me,” he said.

Wanda blinked at him.

“What?”

“You heard me, lift me,” he said again.

Wanda knew what he was asking but her brain somehow refused to make sense of it.

“You want me to lift you?” she asked for clarification.

He rolled his eyes. 

The Winter Soldier had actually rolled his eyes at her. This situation was beginning to weird her out. 

“Yes, Maximoff, I want you to use your powers to lift me,” he said teasingly.

It didn’t sit well with Wanda having him use her last name. That felt more like something for Pietro when he was being difficult. 

_ You’re being difficult,  _ she reminded herself. 

“Look Mr. Soldier, sir,” she started, enjoying the look of annoyance that flashed on his face at what she called him. “I’d love nothing more than to fling you into the sky, but the truth is, I don’t know what my powers would do to normal humans.”

The Soldier raised his eyebrow at her.

_ Right.  _ She thought.  _ This guy isn’t a normal human, he’s like a superhuman. He’d have to be to do all of the things you’ve heard about him. _

“I mean, compared to me you’re normal. You don’t have powers like me or Pietro, so I don’t know how your body would take that,” she amended.

The Soldier seemed to relax at this. 

_ Guess he didn’t really want to be flung around like a doll. Huh. Good to know, _ Wanda thought to herself. 

“What about lifting yourself?” he asked.

Wanda thought about that. It made sense to try. If she ever needed to get out of somewhere, flying would be a quick solution. 0

“I suppose we could try,” she said, calling her powers to her hands. 

She tried to think about the best way to do this before deciding that forming a cloud beneath her would be best for now. She could work out other options in the future. 

Taking a deep breath, Wanda threw as much energy as she could into her little cloud and flung straight up into the sky. 

Fear gripped her as she looked down and saw everything rapidly shrinking. Her focus began to break and instead of rising she found herself falling. A scream broke out from her lips as she saw the ground coming closer. 

“Wanda!” she heard the Soldier yell, running toward the direction she was falling.

Wanda saw men running out of the HYDRA building with guns pointing at her. Her fear turned to anger and suddenly her vision cleared. She could see every little detail flying past her and she saw every move in front of her. 

With a steady hand she reformed her cloud to steady her descend and twirled her other hand to form a shield around her. Just as she did, multiple bullets hit her shield, disintegrating as they did so. 

Wanda floated down to where the Soldier stood with Alexander at his side. It shook her to see her trainer so emotionless when she had gotten used to reading him at a glance.

“Not bad for your first try, Miss Maximoff,” the Soldier said. 

Frustration took over her words.

“Those men shot at me,” she accused, glaring at the Soldier and at Alexander.

“Forgive us, Wanda,” Alexander said, “From an outsider’s view it seemed as if you were going to escape.”

“So that’s your solution? Kill us before you even know what’s going on?” she asked, anger causing her voice to crack. 

“Wanda, you have to understand-” Pierce began but Wanda didn’t let him finish.

“No, it’s  _ you _ that has to understand that I’m only doing what  _ you  _ asked of me. I can’t gain better knowledge of my powers if your men are going to kill me for any little thing they deem suspicious,” she said.

Wanda unconsciously took a step forward and she heard guns shift around her, presumably to follow her movements. 

None of that mattered to her. The only thing on her mind was how the Soldier stood between her and Alexander, protecting him. His metal hand rested on his own gun hanging from his belt. 

Swallowing back the hurt, Wanda cleared her face of emotion and stood up straight. 

“Forgive me, sir,” she forced herself to say. 

A nod from Pierce had his men lowering their weapons. 

“Wanda, no harm done,” he said, “I understand all of this is hard for you.”

He walked around the Soldier and laid his hand on her shoulder. 

“Why don’t you let me walk you back inside? All of this drama must have drained you, you look like you’re about to fall over any second. Come, dear. I’ll clear your schedule for the day and you just rest in your room,” he said, gently guiding her back inside. 

Wanda let him lead the way, doing her best to ignore the blue eyes watching her leave. 

X_X_X  
“Rumlow said you had a situation,” her brother’s voice came from the door.

Wanda sat up from her bed and watched as her brother closed the door behind him, coming over to sit on her bed.

“Yeah, during training,” she answered.

“What happened?” he asked. 

Wanda curled up into herself and Pietro automatically wrapped his arms around her. 

“The soldier and I were training outside for the first time and he found out I could use my powers to lift things.”

Pietro sighed.

“Did he ask you to lift yourself?” he asked.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “He asked me to lift him at first, but I told him I didn’t know what that’d do to him, so he then asked me to lift myself. I used too much force and flew higher up than I meant to. Alexander said that from his view it seemed like I could escape, so the soldiers shot at me.”

She felt her brother freeze. 

“They’ll kill us if we try to escape?” he asked.

Wanda used her powers to pull a pillow towards her, hugging it to her body.

“We knew that’s what they’d do,” she reminded him, burrowing deeper into his embrace.

“I know, but I’d hoped that with our powers they’d consider us more than lab rats, I hoped they’d start seeing us as one of their own,” he said softly. 

“There’s no room for hope in a place like this,” she told him.

The twins sat on her bed thinking about her words. Silent tears streamed down Wanda’s face as she thought about what their life had become.

X_X_X

A knock at midnight didn’t surprise Wanda at all. In fact, she’d been expecting it.

Using her powers, Wanda unlocked her room, sitting up as the man came in and closed the door behind him.

“Soldier, what brings you here,” she asked. Wanda winced at the raspiness in her voice, a result of crying.

“I wanted to see how you were,” he answered.

“Well, I’m fine,” she said coldly. 

She saw his form straighten at her tone.

“You’re angry?” he asked.

“No,” Wanda lied, “I’m just tired. In case you didn’t hear Pierce, I looked drained today. I’m supposed to be resting.”

The Soldier made his way to her bed. The moonlight illuminated his face, revealing the hurt and confusion he was feeling. 

“It’s my fault you’re feeling like this,” he said. She was sure he hadn’t meant for her to hear, so she didn’t comment.

“Wanda, I-,” he paused. “I-,”

Wanda closed her eyes. She could feel fresh tears form and she wiped them away.

“Soldier, please just say what you’re here to say and leave,” she choked out. 

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say, as her tears fell once more and she couldn’t control her sobs any longer.

Wanda felt the Soldier sit on her bed before pulling her onto his lap. She turned and cried into his shoulder, grasping his t-shirt in her hands. She felt his metal arm rub circles on her back while the other one held her close. 

They sat there while Wanda cried out her frustrations at the day she had.

“Why did you come?” she asked again, this time softer as her tears had exhausted her. 

“I suppose I came to apologize,” he said. “I asked you to perform that move. I should have told Pierce about the direction training was going.”

Wanda shook her head against his shoulder.

“It wasn’t your fault. I’m sure they would have shot anyway, warning or not,” she said. His silence confirmed her suspicions.

Wanda pulled away, suddenly embarrassed for crying on the Winter Soldier.

_ I got my mascara all over the world’s deadliest assassin. What is my life, _ she thought. 

She tried to get off but he wouldn’t let her go.

“Soldier,” she began but he cut her off.

“Wanda, please don’t be mad with me,” he said. His tone was so lost and it made her pause her movement.

“I’m not mad, Soldier,” she answered honestly. “I guess I’m just hurt. I shouldn’t have expected anything, but still, it hurt when you took his side instead of mine.”

His grip tightened.

“It’s my job, Wanda. I’m supposed to keep him protected,” he told her. 

“I know, and I understand that. I don’t know why I reacted the way I did,” she said, biting her lip. She didn’t know whether to spill it all out or hold back. 

“Actually, that’s a lie. I do know why,” she said, deciding to just have it all in the open.

The Soldier looked at her questioningly. 

“What is this, Soldier? What’s going on between us?”

She felt him tense up.

“What do you mean? He asked her.

“I mean the smiles, the touching, the kissing.  _ This _ right now, Soldier. What does this all mean to you?” she asked, gently touching his arm. 

She could see the hesitation in his eyes. 

With a small smile, Wanda ran her hand through his hair, softly caressing his cheek.

“Do you want to know what it means to me?” she asked. 

His nod encouraged her.

“It means that I care for you. A lot, actually. And when you return my smiles, when you pull me in for a kiss, it makes me think that you might care for me too,” she whispered. 

“I do,” he breathed out. 

“I know,” she said with a smile at him. “If we were anywhere else but here, I’d know what I’d want to do. But unfortunately, we’re here. I don’t think HYDRA would approve of a relationship between their best weapons,” she said sadly. 

The Soldier moved his hand to her cheek and wiped away a single fallen tear.

“No, I don’t think they would,” he said. 

“Why me?” he asked her. “I’m no good for you, Wanda. I’ve killed people, I’ve lived more than you can imagine. You can do better,” he said.

Wanda kissed his jaw.

“Maybe I could,” she said, “But I like you, Soldier. I like your kindness and loyalty. I like your patience with training a couple of orphaned kids,” she continued, kissing up and down his jaw.

Wanda smiled when she felt his irregular breathing.

“I like how you see me as a normal person instead of the freak or rat everyone else thinks I am,” she said.

“And I like how when you look at me, I see the same love in your eyes that are in mine when I see you,” she finally said, holding his face between her hands. 

He leaned down and connected their lips, giving her no chance to continue.

She could only feel him as he gently laid her on her bed, never breaking their kiss. 

Wanda wrapped her legs around him and pulled him closer, both of them moaning when their desires rubbed against each other. 

The Soldier pulled away from her lips with a smack as he trailed messy kisses down her neck. Wanda pulled at his hair as he sucked her skin just below her collarbone. 

Reaching up to give her another kiss, the Soldier moved so he was next to her on the bed.

“You’ll be the undoing of me, Wanda” he said with a playful smile.

Wanda grinned at him, running her hands through his hair.

“So what do we do about this?” she asked. 

_ I’m not going to be able to stay away after that, _ she thought. 

“I’m not sure,” he said, a frown replacing his smile.

Wanting to see him smile again, Wanda gently touched his temple, thinking about the last five minutes.

The Soldier inhaled sharply and took her hand in his. 

“Can you do that without contact?” he asked her. 

With a smile, she focused on sending him her memories again. His quiet laughter let her know that she succeeded. 

“For training tomorrow, we’ll practice this more. And I want to see if there’s a way I can send you my thoughts without you having to dig into my mind,” he said, kissing her nose.

“Honestly, I think it’s a little too late for the ‘dark and mysterious’ persona, don’t you?” she teased. 

Wanda found that she enjoyed kisses more when she could feel the Soldier’s chuckles vibrate against her chest.


	7. New Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Here’s chapter 7 for you, I hope you enjoy it. It hops forward about two weeks, in which more winterwitch moments can be assumed to have happened. It was a bit hard to write this chapter because of the jump in time, but I wanted to keep the story moving along. Please let me know what you think.  
> Like always, I don’t own these characters or their stories.

“Report, Soldier,” Pierce demanded as soon as the Soldier stepped into his office. 

The Soldier noticed Strucker sitting in one of the chairs in front of Pierce’s desk.

“The Maximoff girl has improved greatly since we moved training outside. She seems to work best when there aren’t as many minds around her as distractions, but we’ve been working on her endurance and she can handle her powers indoors just as well as being outdoors,” the Soldier replied.

“Good. We’re closer to getting her at her full strength,” Pierce said. 

The Soldier nodded and waited for more questioning from his handler.

“The girl could be even more powerful than her twin, sir,” Strucker commented.

Pierce leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin.

“Yes, she could be. I’m concerned about what will happen when she realizes her full potential. As long as she keeps working for us, it’s fine. But as soon as she decides to turn against us, we’ll have nothing to control her with,” Pierce said.

“What of List’s invention? He’s been working on that since she got her powers, will you not use it?” Strucker asked. 

“We don’t know if it’ll work. We’ve had no reason to use it on her yet and we don’t want to break the trust we’ve build with those two,” Pierce answered.

“Soldier? You see her multiple hours per day, what can you tell us of her weaknesses?” Pierce asked.

The Soldier didn’t want to tell him anything that could be used against Wanda, but his training overrode his will.

“She cares deeply for those around her. The only sure way to have her under your control is to show that you have power over those she loves. She’d do anything to make sure no one gets hurt,” the Soldier answered honestly. 

He tensed at intense look Pierce gave him.

“Strucker, give me a minute with the Asset,” he said, his eyes never moving from the Soldier.

Silently, Strucker left the room. 

Pierce left his desk and walked up to the Soldier. 

“Soldier, what is your relationship with the Witch?” he asked quietly.

The Soldier felt frozen but still, his lips moved against his will.

“I think I love her, sir.”

The room was silent. The Soldier’s enhanced hearing could make out the movements of the guards on the other side of the door, of the room above him.

“Love?” Pierce asked. “You are incapable of love, Soldier. You’re nothing more than a killing machine HYDRA made.”

The Soldier felt fear grasp his heart.

“She could never love a monster like you,” Pierce continued.

“But she does,” the Soldier interrupted.

Pierce laughed.

“Does she? Are you certain? Or is she using you?”

The seed was planted.

“Face it Soldier, in her eyes, you’re her way out. Who else could get her and her brother out of here safely besides the great Winter Soldier?” Pierce mocked.

“No, she loves me,” the Soldier insisted.

“Has she said so herself?” Pierce asked.

_ No _ , the Soldier thought,  _ she’s never said she loves me. _

“That’s what I thought,” Pierce said with a cruel smile.

Pierce took out his phone and sent out a quick text before walking back to his desk. 

“You really have become such a disappointment, Soldier. Losing your wits over a pretty little lad, how pathetic. However, lucky for you two, I’m in a good mood today.”

Two guards walked in and the Soldier instantly recognized them. 

“No,” he said, shaking his head.

“Don’t worry, Soldier, you’ll still get to see each other. You just won’t remember anything you’ve been through,” Pierce said. 

The guards pulled the Soldier with them and took him to a room where The Blender had been transferred to. 

The Soldier’s mind retracted so far within itself that he could only watch in horror as they prepared him to be wiped of his memories again. 

X_X_X

Wanda walked alongside her brother with her head down. She feared what might come from this last-minute meeting with Alexander.

_ Wanda, stop stressing about it. You’re stressing me out, _ her brother thought at her. 

She had quickly discovered (with the Soldier’s assistance) that others could talk to her through their minds if they were close enough and thought her name along with whatever they wanted her to hear. It made training easier and communication a lot more open, not just with the Soldier, but with her brother too. 

_ I’m sorry, I just worry about what this is about. It’s not like them to call us into a meeting without a day’s warning,  _ Wanda thought back. 

There was a guard waiting for them at Pierce’s office, opening the door for them as they came close.

“Ah, Pietro, Wanda, it’s good to see you!” Alexander smiled at them, walking around his desk to give each twin a hug.

“Likewise, Alex,” Pietro replied.

Wanda shot her brother a questioning gaze.

“Please, have a seat,” Alexander said, gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk. As the twins sat down Pierce leaned against his desk.

“I know you’re wondering what you’re doing here, especially since it’s so last minute. Well, normally I wouldn’t do something like this, but an opportunity has risen. I wanted to tell you both that you’ve been working far better than we could have imagined. These last two weeks since we changed your training, you’ve both grown spectacularly. We’ve learned that you two have such different learning styles and if we hadn’t made these changes, we’d be months behind. But anyway,” he said, standing up and moving to sit behind his desk.

“We’re ahead of schedule and as I mentioned before, and opportunity has come up,” Pierce said while looking at Pietro.

“Son, I have a mission for you. Rumlow and his team are heading out in an hour. It’ll be three weeks, minimum. It’s just a simple extraction mission, nothing too hard,” he said.

“If it’s not hard then why do they need three weeks?” Wanda asked. 

Pierce smiled.

“Good question, Wanda. It’ll take three weeks because they’ll be going to multiple locations. We also have to include time spent observing their target before they can go in.”

“What of the Soldier?” Pietro asked. “I thought my first mission would be with him.”

“Yes, that was the original plan. However, we have him preparing for another mission. We’re planning on sending your sister with him,” Alexander said. 

“What?” Wanda asked. “I thought it would be a while before I’d be allowed to go on a mission. That’s what List and the Soldier always told me.”

“Well, like I said, you’ve both done so much in the two months you’ve been with us, especially in recent weeks. We feel you’re ready to go into the world and do HYDRA’s good work,” Alexander told them.

Something inside Wanda squirmed at the too-wide smile Pierce threw her way.

“Now, Wanda, I’d like to have a few more words with you about your upcoming mission. Pietro, I don’t like kicking you out, but you have to leave right now. The guard outside will take you to Rumlow’s room. There he’ll help you prepare. You won’t need much as everything will be provided on the jet, but if there’s anything you want from your room, I’d suggest you get it now,” Pierce said.

Pietro reached into his sweatshirt and pulled out a worn piece of paper, no bigger than a price tag, and handed it to Wanda. A quick glance told her it was a family portrait that Pietro always carried with him. It was the only picture they were able to salvage from the explosion.

_ Wanda, take care of it for me, will ya? I’ll be back for it in three weeks, _ Pietro thought at her.

Wanda felt her eyes fill with tears. 

_ If you’re not back in three weeks it’s mine, _ she thought back. 

Pietro smiled at her and she returned it with her own teary smile. 

Alexander watched curiously as the twins stared at each other without saying anything. 

“Love you, Wand,” Pietro said, getting up and moving to give his sister a kiss on her forehead. 

“Love you too, Piet,” she said, closing her eyes and cherishing the moment. 

Then without another word, her brother walked out of the office. 

Before Wanda could break down in tears, Pierce cleared his throat. 

“Wanda, he’ll be alright. Rumlow hasn’t failed me yet,” he said.

Not knowing what to say, Wanda nodded.

“Now, onto your mission,” he said, strangely happy. 

“The reason I paired you with the Soldier is because I was told about your… special bond with him,” he said, getting right to the point.

Wanda felt panic rise within her.

“Sir, I-”

“Wanda, please, let me finish,” Pierce said. “I don’t care that you two have formed some kind of relationship. It’s not ideal, but I train all of my people to be able to balance their work and personal lives,” he said. 

Wanda felt something off in his words.

“I imagine it gets lonely for you and your options are limited when the other man you interact with daily is your brother,” he said, almost mockingly. 

“It’s not like that!” Wanda exclaimed. “I love him!”

Pierce’s grin at her declaration had her recoiling.

“I have a test for you,” he said, getting up to sit next to her. 

“If you can pass this little, tiny thing, then I’ll let you and the Soldier do whatever you’d like. Start a relationship, have sex, bunk together, start a family, I don’t really care,” he said. 

“And what if I don’t want to take the test?” Wanda challenged. 

She was taken aback by how sinister his smile turned at her words.

“Well, let’s just say that accidents can and do happen while men are far away on missions for HYDRA.”

Wanda went cold at his implication. 

The door opened and two guards stood there. Pierce took her hand and made her stand. 

“Good luck, my dear,” he said, giving her hand a kiss. Wanda snatched it back to herself, giving him a glare.

“You’re a monster,” she accused in a lowered voice.

His grin only widened.

“The guards will take you to your test.”

X_X_X

Wanda watched as the guards strapped her down to a chair and began pressing buttons on a monitor connected to some machines behind her. 

She knew she could fight and overpower them, but her brother’s life was at risk. So instead, Wanda sat quietly and let the men do their job.

“Open your mouth,” one of the guards said, holding a rubber mouthpiece in front of her. She hesitated a second before opening her mouth.

The machines began making noise and she saw two metal pieces begin to lower. 

Panic set in and Wanda was about to use her powers to get herself out. However, she heard the door open and glancing over, she saw a metal arm pass by.

Relaxing a bit, she knew she’d be okay if the Soldier was there with her. 

Wanda looked into his eyes and felt her entire world tilt. 

His eyes were as blank as the first day she met him and there was no love in there that she remembered from the nights they spent talking in her room. 

Tears fell from her eyes and Wanda screamed as metal clamps held her head in place. She felt tension building inside her head before it exploded. 

For the rest of the night all Wanda knew was pain.


	8. Uncertainty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Here’s chapter eight. I apologize in advance if it’s a little boring or confusing. I didn’t know what to do with two characters who are basically starting over again. Also, I don’t know how the mind wiping thing goes, so please bear with me when it comes to that.  
> Anyway, I don’t own the characters or their histories.

_ What? Where am I? _

“Scarlet Witch,” a voice said from somewhere in the room.

“Come on, I know you’re waking up,” the same voice said. 

Slowly, the girl opened her eyes and blinked against the lights hanging from the ceiling. She immediately noticed the room was filled with many men holding their weapons pointing towards her. 

Sitting up, the girl instinctively  raised her hands and called forth her protection. 

What she did not expect was the shock that ran through her body like needles prickling every inch of her skin. 

“Agh!” she yelled out. 

“It works,” the voice from earlier said. Turning her head, the girl saw an older redhead walking towards her from behind a guard dressed all in black. 

“Scarlet Witch, I’m so glad you’re finally awake,” he said. 

“Who’s Scarlet Witch?” the girl asked. 

The redheaded man smiled. 

“You, of course,” he said. 

_ I’m Scarlet Witch?  _ the girl thought to herself. A push at the base of her head made her wonder whether it was true or not. 

“That sounds wrong,” she said. The pushing paused and the Witch rubbed her temples.

“Would I lie to you, Witch?” the man asked.

“How can I trust you if I don’t know who you are,” she responded.

The man smiled.

“I’m Alexander Pierce, I’m your caretaker. We know each other, we’re friends.”

The throbbing in her head started again.

“Why can’t I remember you then? Why can’t I remember myself? I don’t remember anything besides waking up here. And if we’re friends, why are your men pointing their guns at me?” the Witch asked. 

Alexander nodded his head at his guards and they lowered their weapons before walking out of the room. The only one to stay was the one dressed in all black.

“Just a precaution,” he said, moving to sit at the end of her bed. “You have powers, Witch. Powerful ones at that and we were unsure of how you’d react when waking up. The guns and the collar,” he said, motioning to her throat, “were just in case you panicked.”

A hand automatically raised to where he pointed, finally noticing the collar around her neck.

“The shock came from this?” she asked. 

Alexander nodded.

“What happened to me?” she asked, pulling her legs up to wrap her arms around them.

“You were on a mission with the Winter Soldier when enemy forces attacked. They had a powerful member who striked you two with his lightning hammer, causing your memories to be lost,” he said, looking at the Witch and the man dressed all in black, which she assumed to be the Winter Soldier. “You’ve been out for two days.”

The throbbing was becoming a pounding in her head and she closed her eyes shut.

“That would explain the headache,” she said.

Alexander laughed.

“If you’re all better, I’ll ask the doctors to release you. The Soldier will lead you to the bedroom you two share,” he said, getting up.

“What?” both the Winter Soldier and Scarlet Witch asked. 

“Did you forget?” Alexander asked with a mocking tone, “You two are HYDRA’s power couple. Individually you’re both dangerous, but together? You’re the deadliest couple the world ever saw. It’s no wonder you were drawn to each other.”

With that, Alexander walked out, leaving the two alone.

“That… that doesn’t feel right?” the Witch commented.

“Things won’t feel right for a few days, but I trust Pierce. I’ve known him for a long time,” the Soldier said. 

The Witch was shocked to find his voice deep and relaxing. She would’ve expected something more terrifying from him. 

The next half hour was filled with nurses checking her vitals one last time and giving her some aftercare tips.

Silently, the Soldier and the Witch made their way to their room.

_ Their. _

The Witch couldn’t believe she’d begun a relationship with this emotionless man walking next to her. 

_ If only Pietro could see me now, _ she thought to herself before pausing in the hallway.

_ Pietro. _

“Witch?” the Soldier asked.

“Pietro!” she whispered yelled at him. 

“Who?” he asked.

The Witch unconsciously began patting herself down, as if that would somehow bring back the memory of this Pietro she knew.

Some rustling brought her attention down to the pocket of her sweater. She pulled out a small picture of a family. 

There was a man and a woman in the picture with one arm wrapped around each other. Their free arms were wrapped around a young girl and a young boy. They resembled one another with their brown hair and dark eyes. All of them were smiling at the camera.

The Witch felt the pounding at the base of her head quicken, as if urging her remember. 

“I-I think I know these people,” The Witch told the Soldier.

“Maybe they’re your family,” he suggested. “That looks like a smaller you,” he said, pointing to the girl. 

“Pietro,” she repeated, her thumb rubbing over the boy’s face.

“I have a family, Soldier,” she said, choking on tears that threatened to escape. 

She didn’t know why she wanted to cry, she still didn’t know her situation. For all she knew, her family could be here in the building with her. It’d make sense for them to be there, she’d just had an accident. 

“Let’s go, maybe they’re on the base,” the Soldier said, taking her hand and pulling her down the hallway.

A sense of familiarity filled her when their hands touched.

_ Well duh, according to Alexander you’re dating this guy, _ she reminded herself. 

The two stopped at a door far away from the busy part of the building.

Pulling out a key, the Soldier opened the door. 

Inside it was empty. Not just of the family she had hoped would be there, but of most things. There was only a queen size bed in one corner of the room and a desk right next to it. 

There was a gap in the wall that served as a closet and another door. Walking over, the Witch discovered it was a bathroom. 

“This is our place?” she asked, noticing too late that it was probably rude of her to say something like that. 

“I think so. The bed is a little bit bigger than I remember, but the rest is the same,” the Soldier answered. 

_ Right. This man is as clueless as I am,  _ she thought. 

“Okay,” she began, “Soldier. Why do I keep calling you Soldier? What’s your real name?” she asked. 

The man stared at her for a long time. 

“I don’t know. I’ve always been called Soldier,” he said.

The Witch twisted her mouth into a scowl. 

“And why is it that you remember more than I do?” she asked. 

Again, the Soldier stared at her. 

“I don’t know that either. I don’t remember much of who I am, I just remember other people. Much like you remember your family,” he said moving to sit on the bed. 

The Witch sat down on the chair by the desk and looked at the picture again. 

The throbbing in her head was constant now and had become more annoying than painful. 

The two sat quietly as the sun moved its position in the sky. 

Neither the Witch nor the Soldier knew what to say to each other. They weren’t sure whether to continue with their relationship or end it. This was an odd situation for both of them. 

Finally night fell and the Soldier stood up, causing the Witch to spring up as well.

Both were embarrassed to hear their cracking bones break the silence. 

“Oh my god,” the Witch finally said, mortified. 

Suddenly she started laughing and it wasn’t long before the Soldier joined her. 

“That’s what we get for sitting still for so long,” he said. 

“If anyone heard us they would’ve assumed we were a pair of seniors in here,” she managed to get out between her giggles. 

“Well old lady, I think it’s time for these seniors to go to bed,” he said with a smile. 

The Witch stopped laughing and looked at the bed.

“I can take the floor,” the Soldier said. 

She shook her head.

“Nonsense. The floor is nothing but cement, and anyway, there’s only one blanket. I may not know you, but I’m not about to let you freeze on the floor,” she said. 

The Soldier raised his eyebrow at her. “Who says you’d be the one keeping the blanket? If I’m letting you have the comfortable bed then the least you could do is let me have the warm blanket,” he said.

The Witch scoffed.

“Please, even sleeping on the same bed you probably still won’t get the blanket,” she said poking her tongue out at him.

His deep laughter sent butterflies flying in her stomach.

“Alright, Witch, I’ll take your word for it,” he said, lifting the blanket up and gesturing for her to climb in. 

“Ladies first,” he said. 

The Witch took off her shoes and climbed into the bed, trying not to freak out at the Soldier coming in after her. She could feel herself blushing at their close proximity. 

_ You’d think this is the first time I slept with this guy,  _ she thought to herself. 

“Goodnight Witch,” came his soft voice from next to her.

“Goodnight Soldier,” she said, turning to face the wall.

As they fell asleep, they unconsciously turned to face one another, their hands finding each other under the covers.

X_X_X

A week after the Witch and the Soldier woke up, they were sent on another mission to find a man and get information out of him. The Witch was excited to gain access to her powers again after having the collar removed. It made the mission go by faster than anyone had expected.

Right after that one, they were sent on another one to gather an important artifact from a museum. It was too easy as the Soldier kept watch while the Witch made the guard fetch it for her.

Soon after that, the Witch made her first kill. A man had run from HYDRA and was hiding out in northern Brazil. The Soldier let the Witch lead the mission and applauded her as she tore the man in half with her powers.

These missions took only a week and due to their success, they were sent out more often. 

For the following two weeks word spread that the Winter Soldier was working with the Scarlet Witch. Rumor had it that she would hypnotize you and lead you straight to the Soldier, who would finish the job. People were told to be weary of the red smoke, for it would mean the Witch was nearby. 

No one ever saw them but they knew to watch their backs. The few who were privileged enough to see the duo in action never lived to tell the tale.

It wasn’t long before SHIELD knew about the deadly couple.


	9. Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I want to thank everyone reading this, it’s what keeps me writing on days when all I’d rather do is sleep.   
> Also, just for clarification, the beginning of this chapter happens about three weeks from when Wanda and Bucky were wiped, which also means it’s been three weeks since Pietro left to go on his mission. So what I’m trying to say is that Pietro is coming back, but his section is about a week after the beginning scene.   
> Like usual, I don’t own these characters or their stories.

There was a knock on the door.

Sitting up straight, Alexander Pierce called out for the person to enter.

“Nick! It’s so good to see you,” Alexander exclaimed, getting up from his desk.

“Pierce,” the director answered.

“Please, Nick, take a seat,” Pierce gestured to the chair in front of his desk. The two men sat down. 

“What have you got for me, Director?” Pierce asked.

“We’ve got field agents claiming to have seen another HYDRA thug working with the Winter Soldier,” Fury said.

“The Winter Soldier working with another person? Are you sure? Our records show that since he came on the scene, he’s worked alone,” Alexander said. His eyebrows furrowed. 

“We have no evidence besides words from a few agents, but it’s something to look into,” Fury commented.

“What do we know so far?”

Fury leaned back into his chair and crossed his hands. 

“Well, we know she’s a woman. Goes by the name of Scarlet Witch. We don’t know exactly what she does, but you can bet your ass we’ll figure it out and take her down,” Director Fury said, standing up.

Pierce stood up with him. 

“Good. I’ll approve a group of men to search the areas where she’s been sighted. I want her eliminated. And if the Soldier is with her too, then I want him out as well,” Pierce said. 

“I’ll have Rumlow and his team prepare to head out as soon as the order is given,” Fury said.

“Good idea. If anyone could find this new threat it’ll be the Strike team,” Pierce said. 

“Thank you for your time, Director,” Pierce added, holding out his hand.

“Pierce,” Fury acknowledged, taking the outstretched hand and shaking it. 

The Director walked out as Pierce took a seat.

Spinning around, he looked out his glass wall, taking in all of D.C. with a smirk.

X_X_X

Pietro ran down the hallway towards Wanda’s room. 

His mission had gone on longer than expected and then he’d been forced to do the necessary debriefing which had taken more than an hour. He was dying to get back to his other half. 

“Wanda!” he yelled as he burst into her room. 

He froze when he saw the room. It was dusty and lacking life. The bed had no pillows or covers and the desk was empty of Wanda’s usual writing utensils. In the makeshift closet there was nothing.

Panic set in and he ran to his room, hoping that by some miracle he’d find her there. Maybe she’d been moved rooms, or was allowed to share his. 

Slamming the door open, he was relieved to find himself being choked by red mist.

“Wanda, you’re here,” he managed to gasp out.

The smoke immediately retreated, leaving him a coughing mess on the floor. 

“Pietro,” a voice said.

Pietro’s head snapped up to look at his sister. Her voice, one he’d grown up with, was empty of all that made her his sister. She looked like herself, but she also didn’t. 

“Wand, are you okay?” he asked cautiously. He didn’t want to offend her in case she was having a hard time or something, but he could tell she wasn’t herself. 

The Wanda he knew would have hugged him to death by now.

“Of course,” she said with a forced smile. 

“Right. Come on, tell me what’s up,” he said,  crossing his arms.

“Nothing is up, Pietro. I’m just overcome with emotion at my brother’s arrival,” she said.

Pietro snorted. 

“Yeah, right,” he said.

Wanda took in a deep breath and offered him another fake smile.

“How was your mission, brother?” she asked. 

“Easier than the mission I’m facing now of having to figure out who the hell you are,” he said with a scowl.

“It’s me? Your sister?” she commented.

“Okay, then prove it,” he said. 

It was ridiculous that he had to ask his own sister to prove that she was his sister.

“Here,” she said, handing him the small picture he’d given her before he left. 

He took it and inspected it, trying to see if it was a duplicate. To his chagrin it was the original one. 

“Hey,” she said, in an excited whisper. 

Pietro looked up, confused at her sudden mood change.

“Do you want to see what I brought from my first mission?” she asked with a smile. 

He couldn’t tell if it was fake or not, so he nodded.

“Come, it’s in a different room. It’s kind of big so I couldn’t keep it in mine,” she said, taking his hand and dragging him out of the room. 

“Speaking of rooms, why aren’t you in yours?” he asked.

“But I am. I’m sharing a room with the Soldier,” she said, throwing him a confused look. 

“What?” he exclaimed. “You’re sleeping with the Soldier now? Since when?” he asked.

“Since always?” she said, but it came out sounding like a question.

“And Alexander let you?” he asked, glancing around them. He noticed that there wasn’t anyone around.

“Let me? He’s the one who told me,” she said, sounding even more confused.

She let go of his hand as they came to a door. Pietro felt an uncomfortable twitch in his muscles. HIs instincts were urging him to run.

“Told you? What do you mean? How did he find out? I thought you and the Soldier were keeping your feelings on the down low. How did you even go from barely acknowledging your feelings to sharing a room?” he asked, unconsciously taking a step back from the door.

“You’re not making any sense, Pietro. The Soldier and I have always been together,” she said. 

Warning bells rang in Pietro’s head and before he could think about it he turned and ran. 

He made it halfway down the hallway before he ran into a wall of red energy.

“Wanda, what are you doing?” he asked as he felt the red wrap around him and lift him off the floor.

“Let me go!” he yelled, kicking his feet around. It was the only free part of his body.

“Good job, my lovely Witch,” came a familiar voice from the door Wanda had been walking him to. 

“Alexander! What’s going on here?” Pietro yelled.

“Why don’t you bring him in and strap him down?” Alexander said, completely ignoring Pietro’s questions.

“Yes, sir,” his sister said in that emotionless voice he heard earlier.

Pietro yelled and struggled as he was set on the chair in the middle of the room. It was no use fighting against Wanda’s powers. Even though it was nothing more than smoke, it was hard as steel. 

Pietro felt his sister’s powers leave him and in its place were leather restraints.

“What’s going to happen to him?” he heard her ask Pierce.

Pietro fell silent, wanting to hear the answer.

“Nothing bad, Witch, don’t worry. It’s just part of our procedure to cleanse the mind of our soldiers every time they come back from a mission. In case someone managed to get into their head,” he said too innocently. 

Glancing at Wanda, he could tell she didn’t believe him. Then he saw as she shook her head and offered Pierce a small smile. 

“Okay. I probably don’t remember because of the accident, right?” she asked.

Pierce smiled at her and nodded. 

“Right, I trust you, Alexander. You’ve been nothing but honest with me since the beginning,” she said, smiling warmly at Pierce. 

Then she came to Pietro and kissed his forehead. 

“Don’t worry brother, soon you’ll be cleansed of whatever poison has been inserted into your mind,” she whispered to him. 

“No!” he whisper-yelled at her. 

_ Wanda, listen to me, I’ve not been poisoned! You have though! By HYDRA and all their bullshit! _ Pietro thought at her, hoping that she’d still be able to read his thoughts directed towards her.

Her eyes widened and her mouth slightly open with a gasp.

“Witch, you must leave now. We’re about to begin the procedure,” Pierce’s voice rang out.

Straightening up, Wanda glanced at Pietro once more before walking out of the room. Pietro yelled at Wanda and Pierce. He yelled as two metal arms came down and grasped his head. 

Pietro’s screams could be heard throughout the floor as the machine did it’s job and wiped his memories away.

In her own room, Wanda screamed into her pillow as her twin’s pain took control over her body.


	10. Doubt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! I’m moving things quickly here because I don’t know what else people do at HYDRA besides train and kill. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!   
> And like always, I don’t own anything relating to the characters.

A week had passed since the Scarlet Witch took her brother to the room with the chair.

Alexander had gone through the plan with her before Pietro came back, telling her that he had been taken hostage by some enemy forces and they poisoned his mind with lies about HYDRA. 

The Witch, wanting nothing more than to have her brother well and by her side, agreed to help Pierce cleanse her brother’s mind. 

But then Pietro said what he said. 

It was hard to believe HYDRA could be the one feeding her lies, but then, wouldn’t that make sense? No one had called her anything other than  _ The Witch _ since she came back from her first mission, and then came the man she knew to be family calling her  _ Wanda. _

He seemed genuinely confused when she told him about the Soldier. Why would he seem confused about that? She doubted the enemy forces would put in a lie about  _ her _ relationship with the Soldier. 

Nothing was making sense.

Her brother came into the room and sat down on the bed. Their handlers quickly discovered that keeping the siblings apart was next to impossible. They would always find their way to one another. 

Even if they didn’t talk, that was fine by them. No one talked much anyway. Not while in front of other people. 

The Witch talked to the Soldier the most, but she figured it was because she spend so much time with him on the base and on missions. She’d actually started to care for the guy. When they were alone he would be sweet and attentive and she knew he kept their conversations a secret between them two. 

It was why she chose to trust him with her doubts.

“Soldier,” she said, drawing his attention away from polishing his arm.

“Yeah?” he replied.

“Do you…” she hesitated. “Do you think Alexander hides things from us? About HYDRA?” she asked in a low voice, glancing down at her lap.

The Witch heard him put his supplies down and felt the bed shift where he sat.

“What brought this on?” he asked.

She reached up and took a strand of hair in her hands.

“Well, when Pietro first came he seemed normal. Talking with him was the first thing that felt  _ right  _ since I woke up. He called me by my name, he seemed to know how I should behave and grew suspicious when I didn’t,” she said, twirling her hair around her fingers.

The Soldier sighed.

“Alexander told us what happened to him. Anything he said can’t be trusted,” he said.

“But he knew my name, Soldier. He called me ‘Wanda’ with so much familiarity that only someone who knew me could possess. Wouldn’t the enemy have tried to ruin that? And who is this enemy? Alexander never mentioned the name, just like he never mentioned a name for our attacker,” she said.

“Wanda,” the Soldier whispered.

The Witch shivered when her name spilled from his lips.

“I suppose that can be true,” he said.

“Then why couldn’t everything else be true, too?” she asked.

“What more did he say?”

The Witch hesitated.

“He said we were keeping our relationship a secret from Alexander, if it could even be called a relationship. He implied that we were just barely touching the subject of our feelings,” she said as she put her hands in her lap.

She heard the Soldier take in a deep breath.

Their relationship hadn’t picked up from where Alexander told them they left off, but they were nearing that place themselves by getting to know each other. They both knew about their feelings for one another given all the flirting they’ve been doing since rooming together. It was still an awkward subject to touch, though. 

“And,” she continued, not wanting to think about that more than necessary, “He said that Alexander was the one feeding us lies. That HYDRA was bull and our minds have been poisoned,” she said.

“I don’t know,” the Soldier said.

“Wouldn’t it make sense? You’ve told me you have gaps in your memories and that you can’t remember anything before you met Alexander. What if… What if he’s hiding something from us?” The Witch choked out.

Sensing her distress the Soldier pulled her into his arms and rubbed soothing circles on her back. 

“If it bothers you that much, why don’t you search my mind?” he suggested.

“What?” she asked, looking at him in shock.

She’d never gone into his head before. 

“I trust you, Little Witch. If it’ll help calm your mind, you can search mine. Besides, if there are any secrets HYDRA is hiding from us, don’t you think I’d know them? I’ve been here longer than you have,” he told her.

The Witch shook her head. 

“I can’t do that to you, Soldier. If something went wrong I could never forgive myself,” she said.

He smiled and took her hands in his own before bringing them up to his lips and placing a kiss on her knuckles. All the while, his blue eyes bore into her own.

“And if it all goes right, you may have something else to call me other than ‘Soldier’. Nothing would make me happier than having my name come from from your lips,” he said, glancing down at her lips as he spoke. 

“Okay,” she said, licking her lips. His eyes followed her tongue.

She didn’t realize she was leaning in until their noses brushed right before their lips met. 

Fire spread throughout her body and she brought her hands up to the Soldier’s face, memorizing everything about him through touch.

She pulled away and leaned her forehead against his. Then without warning she entered his mind.

The Witch stood on nothing and as she looked around herself she saw what looked like a galaxy. Closing her eyes, she sent her powers out to sense things around her. 

She came across memories but they were all very recent. It was of their time spent together during missions or in the HYDRA base. She tried walking deeper into his mind hoping to find something older but she couldn’t. It was as if all of his memories were only since they woke up.

Frustrated, the Witch opened her eyes and saw a steel wall a few feet in front of her. Slowly, she walked up to it and touched it only to pull her hand back in surprise at how cold it was.

Deja vu washed thought her. Something in her mind told her that it would be covered in frost and when she looked closely, she could make out the individual flakes frozen to the metal.

Stepping back, the Witch pointed her hand at the wall.

“What are you doing?” the Soldier’s voice came from next to her.

Whipping her head around, she saw him just as they were on the bed, but more tense, more wild.

“The wall is blocking my path. I need to see what’s on the other side. May I?” she asked. 

He looked like he wanted to object but finally nodded.

“I did tell you to search my mind, didn’t I?” he responded.

With a nod, she turned back to the wall and this time raised both hands, letting her powers cover the entire wall and try to move it. 

Soon she realized that wasn’t working and reduced her power’s focus to a smaller portion. She saw the frost begin to melt and the wall start to burn. Throwing more energy into her powers, the Witch yelled as she forced the wall’s stitchings to give way to her powers.

A crack formed and then she along with the Soldier were blown back by the explosion of the wall. Standing up, both huddled together as freezing wind blew at them from the other side of the wall. 

The Witch went through first after insistence from the Soldier. 

They both paused as they found themselves standing on top of a moving train.

“Do you recognize this place?” she asked the man next to her.

“I think I do but it… It doesn’t feel like it’s a memory from working with HYDRA,” he answered. 

They heard movement from inside the wagon. 

“A fight,” the Soldier commented.

The Witch glanced over at him.

Gunshots rang out and then there was nothing.

“Wha-” she began to ask but an explosion on the side of the car cut her off.

Dropping low, they both crawled to look over the edge where they saw a huge hole on the side of the train. The wall was barely hanging on as the train moved at fast speeds.

Another explosion from inside the train resulted in someone being thrown out. 

They would have fallen to their death had they not caught on to the railings on the wall.

“A soldier,” the Witch said, glancing at the uniform.

“Do you recognize him?” she asked the Winter Soldier.

“No, I can’t tell who he is just by looking at the top of his head,”  he replied.

They shifted a little closer but were blocked by a blond headed man in a blue suit with stars and stripes coming out of the train.

“BUCKY!” the man shouted.

Then he held onto the wall and tried to reach the man hanging from the railing.

The man was looking up now and the Witch felt the air being pulled from her lungs.

Right in front of her was the Soldier hanging on for dear life as Captain America reached for him.

“Bucky…?” The Soldier whispered to himself.

“Hang on!” the Captain yelled, inching closer.

“Grab my hand!” he yelled again, stretching his hand as far as it would go.

The Soldier grasped the Witch’s hand tightly and they watched as the younger looking Soldier reached for the Captain’s hand.

They heard the creaking of the metals as loud as thunder in the sky.

“No!” the Captain yelled right as the railing gave way and Bucky fell from the train.

The Witch and the Soldier were pulled from the train and saw Bucky’s entire fall, his screams and look of terror forever etched into their memory.

While they were able to land gently on the floor, Bucky wasn’t as lucky and his body crashed onto the floor, landing with a deafening crack.

As the two ran to where the body had fallen, the Witch nearly threw up at the sight of Bucky’s left arm completely cut off from the boulder it had landed on. Blood was gushing out of shoulder where the arm was missing but it was quickly freezing due to the cold.

Looking around the Witch couldn’t see the arm anywhere in sight.

“That’s me…” the Soldier said, looking down at himself in the snow.

“Soldier, look at me,” she said, pulling his face to hers. “This is a memory. You and I are in our room sitting on the bed. Remember?” 

“But this is me. This happened to me,” he said, looking at the dying soldier in the snow.

She wrapped her arms around him and he held onto her tightly, burying his face into her hair. 

She didn’t know how long they stood there but soon they heard the snow crunching and looked up to see a soldier with the HYDRA logo on his uniform walk up to Bucky. 

The man bent down to check his pulse before radioing in that he had found something and would take it back to the base. Then he bent down and picked up Bucky’s good arm to drag him through the snow to their lair.

The two watching had no chance but to follow and watch Bucky coming in and out of consciousness the whole walk there.


	11. Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! This is a very short chapter, so it’s one of two I’ll be posting today. I hope you enjoy it!  
> Like usual, I don’t own the characters or their pasts.

“Where are we?” the Witch asked the Soldier, taking his hand in her own.

“I’m not sure. I think we might be in New York,” he answered, looking around. 

Old buildings could be seen in the distance and the houses, though covered in snow, were obviously also of an older design. 

The pair stepped back as two kids ran past them, a little brunet boy was running with a blond one following a few feet behind.

“Is that…?” the Soldier trailed off as the kids turned and revealed a smaller looking Captain and Soldier.

“You knew each other as kids?” she asked. 

The brown-haired boy, Bucky, took his gloves off and handed them to the small Captain. Upon closer inspection she could see the paleness of the little blond boy and she had to control herself so she wouldn’t scold him for being out. He looked like he would fall sick any second.

“I remember he got sick that day,” the Soldier said.

Suddenly the scene shifted and they were now in a small apartment. The boys were on the couch with the Captain burrowed under a pile of blankets, his skinny arms barely able to hold up his bowl of soup. Next to him sat Bucky in shorts and a t-shirt, eating cereal. They were both entranced by whatever they were watching on the TV.

“Come,” the Soldier said, gently pulling her arm. 

They took a step back and the image blurred, the colors mixing into one another before forming another picture. 

They found themselves in HYDRA’s lair. They watched helplessly as Bucky screamed after each injection a doctor gave him. The small, bow-tie wearing man  would only smile and take notes. 

They saw as Bucky was beaten up for resisting. They saw when the metal arm was burned into his stump and even in memory they could smell the burning flesh.

The only evidence of time passing was the aging of those around them. People came and went, with the only one remaining the same being Bucky. 

The scene around them changed again and they see Bucky, who now resembles the man standing next to the Witch. 

He was lying on a bed with his arms crossed behind his back and a lazy smile on his face.

The Soldier tensed and she looked at him.

“What’s wrong? Do you remember this?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said, closing his eyes.

A door opening drew her attention to the memory and she choked on air as a naked redhead walked out of the bathroom. Her long red waves seemed to glow around her. 

“Natalia,” the man on the bed said with such gentleness that left the Witch breathless. 

“Soldier,” the woman answered with a smirk. She pulled the blanket covering the Soldier and tossed it teasingly to the side. The Witch felt her entire face and neck burn as she finally realized that the Soldier was naked in the bed. 

The redhead, Natalia, crawled on the bed and made her way to where the Soldier rested.

The Witch turned to hide her face in the chest of the man next to her right as the redhead lowered her face to his pelvis.

“I’m sorry,” he said, reaching up to run a hand through her hair.

“It’s fine,” she said, although she knew she’d be thinking about that for the rest of her time with the Soldier.

Taking a deep breath, she pulled away as far as she was able to. The Soldier didn’t let her go though, so she had to watch her surroundings within his arms.

She held back a groan as she saw the Soldier and the redhead kissing passionately in a darkened room. This time they were both fully dressed in all black and when they pulled apart, the Witch could see their eyes shine with unshed tears.

“We fought,” the Soldier said. His voice vibrated under her hand that was placed on his chest. 

“About what?” she asked.

He shook his head.

“We fought HYDRA. They found out,” he said. 

His words caused the scene to shift again and she saw as the redhead was fighting against the ropes and soldiers that held her back.

On the other side of the room, the Soldier was being dragged back into a large metal tube with a small window on the door. As soon as he was shoved in, the scene changed again and they were back where they started on the moving train.

Then they were pulled forward and found themselves looking into into the small window of the tube. The Soldier was shirtless and frost covered his entire body with white icicles clinging to his hair.

Again, the scene changed and they saw Bucky fighting with skinny Captain, Steve, about wanting to join the army.

A blur and they were in a dark room, watching as Captain America saved Bucky from being taken hostage by HYDRA.

“What’s going on?” the Soldier asked as memories whipped past them.

Falling, being put in cyro, waking up to be told of a mission.

“We’re nearing the end,” the Witch said as the memories spun around them.

Waking up one day to be told he’d be teaching, going into a room full of other winter soldiers and being repeatedly beaten as he taught them how to fight. 

Waking up again and being told the same thing only to see two underfed and unkempt siblings holding on to each other. 

“This is recent,” the Soldier said as they watched him fight with Pietro and Wanda. 

Getting his ass beat by Pietro when he used his powers; being distracted by Wanda’s beauty when she used hers. Their stolen kisses and innocent touching.

Pierce asking about what he had with her. Waking up again and being told his partner had been compromised and had to be wiped before they could be reunited. Watching Wanda screaming as her memories were ripped from her.

All these moments in time whipped around them, voices combining into a constant scream as cold air shot at them from all directions.

A scream tore from their lips as they were ripped apart and both of them fell backwards onto the bed they were on.

The were both drenched in sweat and panting quickly.

“Oh my God,” the Witch gasped out. 

She sat up and crawled over to where the Soldier lay.

“Soldier?” she asked hesitantly. There was no reply as he laid there staring blankly at the ceiling.

“Bucky?” she asked softly.

He blinked and slowly sat up. Their eyes connected and the Soldier threw his arms around her as he broke down into tortured sobs.

The Witch held on tightly as she stared into empty space. 

“Oh my God,” she repeated in horror.


	12. Vengeance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Here’s the second chapter I said I’d post today! I hope you enjoy it!  
> (I don’t own any of the characters or their stories.) (Also, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I try to use ‘the Witch’ and ‘the Soldier’ when Wanda and Bucky are under HYDRA’s influence. Now that they’re not, I’m going to be using their actual names, although I might alternate between both names just so I’m not constantly repeating myself.)

The room was silent as Wanda and Bucky held onto each other, trying to collect their thoughts. The night sky was turning purple with the imminent sunrise.

_ I can’t believe he’s gone through all that, _ she thought. Her heart broke for him.

“I’m going to kill him. I’m going to kill every person in this damned place,” came Bucky’s raspy voice from her shoulder.

Wanda stiffened and Bucky pulled back.

“I’m going to make them suffer for all they’ve done to me, to us,” he said, grabbing Wanda’s head between his hands.

“Bucky,” she said, reaching up to grasp onto his wrists.

“Please, don’t. We saw how dangerous they are and I’m pretty sure that wasn’t all of it. Let’s just leave, sneak out of here. You, me, and Pietro can leave and start a life outside of HYDRA,” she whispered.

“I can’t, Wanda. They’ve taken so much from me. I want them to burn to the ground,” he said standing up.

“Bucky,” Wanda tried again but stopped at the torn look on his face.

“Wanda, please. Don’t you understand? Even if we escape, we’ll always be running from them. Destroying them is the only solution,” he told her.

She sighed and stood up to give him a long kiss. His arms automatically wrapped around her and her mind flashed back to the redhead in from his memories. 

She pulled away.

“Of course. You can count on me,” she said.

He smiled and leaned down to kiss her one more time before pulling back and going to the door. His hand paused on the handle.

“Go get Pietro, ask if he can help. Give him a brief summary of what happened. From there we can all leave together,” he said, turning to look at her.

“Okay,” she said with a small smile. His lips twitched and he was out the door. 

“Dear God, please help us,” she said, looking up to the ceiling. 

Gathering her courage, she walked confidently out of the room and into her brother’s room two doors down.

“Witch,” he said, sitting up in his bed.

“It’s Wanda,” she said, shooting a red blast towards him. He fell back and she could see his eyes moving rapidly behind his eyelids. 

Walking slowly towards him, she knelt down by his head and sent a continuous stream of power into his mind. She quickly let him know of the lies she had uncovered, told to them by all of HYDRA’s men. She showed him the memory she had of his arrival after his first mission. She made him understand that they were more than who they thought they were and that to discover their past, they had to destroy HYDRA. 

With a final flick of her wrist, Pietro opened his eyes and got up with a gasp.

“Wanda?” he asked, the name strangely familiar on his tongue. 

“Pietro, we have to help Bucky,” she said, helping him stand.

“Who?” he asked.

“Bucky, that’s the Soldier’s name. We uncovered it, along with other things HYDRA has done to him, to us,” she said.

“So why are we fighting HYDRA? Why not just escape without them noticing?” he asked. 

Alarms went off and the twins covered their ears at the ringing.

“If we don’t stop them they’ll always be after us,” she yelled at him.

He nodded his head and both lowered their arms as their ears got used to the ringing. 

“It’ll be dangerous,” she said.

“I’d be disappointed if it wasn’t,” he answered with a smirk.

With a roll of their shoulders, the twins walked out of the room into chaos.

“Scarlet Witch! Quicksilver! Quick, you’re needed in Pierce’s office! The Soldier has gone mad,” one of the guards yelled as he came running towards them.

Wanda recognized him as one of the men who tied her down to the chair.

“Of course,” she said with a smile. As if sensing his sister’s plan, Pietro chuckled.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, you’re in my way,” she said, wrapping her powers around the man and tearing his body right down the middle.

“You’re awful,” Pietro said, still chuckling next to her. All around them they heard screaming. 

“Eh,” was her reply as she formed a shield around them. Hundreds of bullets hit her powers and she blasted it away from her, effectively killing all the men in the room.

“Damn Wanda. Remind me never to get on your bad side ever again,” her brother said.

“Shut up and let’s go to the office,” she said.

“Last one there is a rotten egg!” he said before disappearing.

Wanda groaned and ran in the direction of the office.

“‘Ooh look at me I’m Pietro aka Quicksilver and I can run into battle in no time but I couldn’t be bothered to take my sister with me cause I’m a lil shit,’” she muttered under her breath as she came to the office a minute later.

“Actually, it’s because you’re too heavy,” Pietro said leaning against the door. “And because I have to conserve my energy for the fight. What took you so long?” he asked with a smirk.

“Stop messing around, we have to help the Soldier,” she said.

“Alright, alright. Let’s go help your precious  _ Bucky _ ,” he teased before running into the room.

“Everybody stop,” she said, stepping into the room with her glowing hands held in front of her.

Her brother was standing in the middle of the room and watched as Bucky struggled with a group of men and Pierce was standing smugly in front of him.

“Freight car,” Pierce finished, smiling wickedly at her.

“Pietro,” she said. He became a blur as he ran around the Soldier, knocking out all the guards. She gasped as the Soldier struck an arm out and knocked Pietro away.

“Pietro! Bucky, what the hell?” She yelled, using her powers to pull her brother away from the Soldier.

“Who the hell is Bucky?” he asked her with a blank stare.

Enraged, Wanda’s powers slipped from her and wrapped around a laughing Alexander.

“What have you done to him?!” she yelled taking two steps in his direction.

“I’ve set him back straight,” he said.

“Wanda!” yelled her brother.

Wanda felt a hand wrap around the back of her neck and throw her across the room.

Her grip on Pierce ceased and he got up to run.

Pietro quickly blocked his path and wrapped his hands around his arms and neck, effectively holding the older man in place.

The Soldier walked towards her and she stood up, wiping blood from a cut on her cheek.

“Bucky, listen to me, you have to-” but she was cut off as he threw a punch at her. 

She ducked and knocked his feet from under him. He rolled and stood up just as fast. Before she knew what was happening, he turned around and ran towards Pietro, taking him from the arm and making him release Pierce.

Wanda wrapped her powers around the Soldier’s arms to get him to release Pietro.

“Bucky, stop! Please!” she sobbed.

The Soldier used his metal arm to punch Pietro in the head, only knocking him unconscious since he was unable to use his full strength.

“Soldier, snap out of it!” she yelled. He turned and ran straight at her.

Angry and heartbroken, Wanda let him go and instead focused her powers on his mind. She used her hands to weave the truth into her powers and shot it directly into his head.

He groaned as his mind felt like it was fighting against itself. He raised his metal hand in an attempt to shield himself from the magic but it just went around.

“It’s such a shame you decided to go against us,” Pierce sighed from the corner of the room. She only then realized that the guards had left and he stayed to watch.

“I would never willingly work for a piece of shit like you,” she growled. 

“And yet you did. And you were so powerful. It was beautiful watching you team up with the Soldier to spread the work of HYDRA,” he said. 

Wanda sensed the Soldier getting near and focused on him again, using more force to not only clear his mind, but push him back.

“You’re sick,” she gasped out.

“And you’re going to lose,” Pierce said. 

She knew he was right when she looked into the eyes of the Soldier and saw the blank stare still in place.

“Bucky,” she whispered.

Recognition flashed in his eyes for a second before the Soldier took over again. 

Wanda could do nothing but watch as his right arm came around her red mist and threw her world into darkness.


	13. Changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! This chapter jumps ahead in time, so please don’t hate me for skipping possible exciting moments.  
> Anyway, I don’t own anything relating to the characters.

Wanda gasped for air.

She felt as if her heart had just been ripped out of her chest and now there was a big empty hole where it belonged. She felt coldness spread to every cell in her body.

_ No. No, no, no, no, no, _ she thought hysterically as her mind searched for her brother. 

_ Pietro! _ her mind screamed as it searched every inch of the flying city for her other half. She finally found her brother barely standing in front of Hawkeye and a little boy. She felt her entire world crumble to her feet as she saw the rapidly growing red dots on his body.

_ I’m sorry, Wand, _ he thought out loud enough for her to hear.  _ I love you. _

Wanda watched in horror as her brother lifted his lips and smirked at the archer. “You didn’t see that coming?” were his last words as he fell lifelessly to the ground.

Wanda was left reeling as she felt Pietro’s mind slip from her.

_ NO! _ Wanda’s mind screamed, but all her body could do was release her anguish in one long, wordless cry.

Her body crumbled to the floor and she felt her powers slip from her grasp, completely disintegrating all living things around her.

_ PIETRO! _ she mentally screamed as she continued to cry. Her mind flashed through all the moments she’d spent with him since the moment they were born. She thought of how he was always there for her even when he was expected to be focused on something else.

_ Pietro… _ her mind numbly repeated over and over again until she was brought back to herself when she caught sight of a falling robot.

“Ultron,” she said emotionlessly.

Her feet automatically lifted her up and began walking. She had no control over her body, the only thing on her mind was inflicting her pain on the one who took her twin from her. 

Wanda came to the train she’d helped stopped earlier and saw the signs that something had crashed into it. She walked inside, calling her powers to her hands. She could barely keep from turning him into scraps when she saw Ultron a broken mess on the floor.

Numbly, she knelt by his side.

“Wanda,” he started. “If you stay here, you’ll die.”

“I just did,” she answered without hesitation. “Do you know how it felt?”

Remembering the designs of the Ultrons, she sought out his main power system and lifted her hand, using her powers to grasp around his makeshift heart. 

Without so much as blinking at his groans, she ripped it out.

Wanda looked at the thing in her hand with disgust.

“It felt like that,” she said, looking at his mangled body.

She then felt everything freeze before Sokovia began to fall.

_ I’ll come home to you, brother, _ she thought as her body lifted off the ground during the fall. Her mind retreats into itself as she watched the buildings around her collapse.

Wanda felt something behind her and turned in shock to see the Vision there. He gently took her into his arms and flew out of the train, taking her off her hometown and placing her onto a jet.

She looked around and caught sight of Captain America and the Black Widow looking down at something. Wanda carefully stood and made her way over to see them talking with Hawkeye, who was looking down at something on the ground. 

Wanda stumbled and fell as she saw her brother’s body on the floor of the jet.

“Pietro,” she cried, frantically crawling over to where his body lay.

“Wanda,” the Captain said but didn’t finish what he had intended to tell her.

She blocked everyone out as she cried on top of her brother’s body, using her powers to close his wounds, knowing deep down that it wouldn’t change anything. 

Pietro was still dead.

Wanda didn’t know how much time passed but she was brought out of her mind when she felt a blanket being thrown over her. She looked up to see the Captain smile sadly at her before sitting next to her on the floor. She also noticed Hawkeye still sitting on the chair, looking mournfully at Pietro.

Wanda rest her head on her brother’s chest and continued to withdraw into herself.

X_X_X

“Tell us what you know,” the man in front of her demanded.

Normally the tough guy act would’ve had her cringing in her chair, especially with this one in his black pants, black shirt, black jacket. Hell, even his eyepatch was black.

But she found that she didn’t care if he decided to torture the information out of her. She was giving up.

“Wanda, please just do as he says,” she heard Steve say from the other room. She’d learned that she could listen in on what other people were saying despite  _ not _ having enhanced hearing.

With a sigh, she uncrossed her arms and leaned on the table.

“You probably know the story better than I do,” she mumbled. 

On the other side of the wall she heard Tony call for Steve and his absence left her feeling more alone. 

It was weird depending on Captain America like that.

“Pietro and I volunteered for HYDRA when they told us they could help us fight against the man responsible for the bombs that killed our parents. They said we’d have the power to kill him. 

When we got there we met with Dr. List who immediately started experimenting on us with the scepter. Pietro got superspeed because he’s always been more athletic, and I got mental powers because I’ve always lived in my mind more than him. At least, that’s what we came up with, no actual research was conducted by list,” she said with a dry smirk.

“We met with Strucker shortly after getting our powers and he said the Avengers sided with Tony despite everything he’d done, so they were the bad guys. Then everything with Ultron happened and now here we are. Or, here I am,” she finished bitterly. 

The director said nothing and stared at her with his one eye, as if he was willing her to say more.

“I’ve told you all I know, can I go now?” she asked, sounding very much like the moody teenager she was. 

“I don’t think you’ve told me everything. Now I’m going to ask you this once; What do you know about the Winter Soldier?” Fury asked.

Wanda scrunched her eyebrows together.

“Who?” she asked.

The director let out an exasperated sigh and pinched his nose.

“The Winter Soldier, HYDRA’s deadliest assassin, the man you and your brother went on missions with,” he said, his frustration laced in his words.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Pietro and I never went on missions for HYDRA. We never met this soldier you’re talking about. We were barely even able to see each other,” she said.

Fury stood up and slammed his hands on the table. Wanda shrinked in her seat.

“Stop lying! We have records of the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver working with the Winter Soldier that go back to over a year ago. Now either you tell me what you know,  _ now _ , or we will force it out of you,” he said with a scary calm voice.

Wanda felt her own anger rise and she let it swirl in her blood. When she spoke, she knew her eyes would be red based on the clarity of everything around her.

“I’ve told you all I know. You can’t force me to say what you want to hear,” she told him in an equally calm voice.

He smirked and threw a folder across the table at her. 

With caution she opened it to find a picture of a man sleeping inside a cryo chamber. At the bottom of that was what she assumed to be the same man, but in an outdated soldier’s uniform. 

“You fought by his side. You were known as HYDRA’s killer pair,” Fury said smugly, as if he’d somehow proved her wrong.

Wanda shook her head and closed the file.

“I’ve never met this man in my life.”

X_X_X

“Wanda!” Sam yelled from across the room. She looked over and he waved at her to come. 

She stood on the second floor so she used her powers to bring herself down and at that moment Steve and Natasha walked in. Wanda also noticed Vision and Rhodey had come to the training. 

“Alright, we’re going to start off with some basic stretching,” Steve said and they all groaned. Avengers didn’t need stretching.

Regardless, they stretched. It soon became apparent to Wanda that her outfit was  _ not  _ made for much movement. The red coat barely let her move her hands and the corset was making her boobs nearly spill out with every breath.

“Wanda?” Natasha called from the front of the room.

“Yeah?” Wanda answered, walking over to where the older woman stood.

“Why don’t you come with me?” she asked, already turning to walk out of the room. 

Wanda looked back at Steve who only shrugged and turned his attention back to the other men in the room. She turned and had to jog to catch up with the Widow.

“I’ve ordered a new suit for you that will allow for more movement. The one you have is cute but looks uncomfortable,” Natasha said.

“It is,” Wanda replied.

“Thought so,” she said and opened the door to what Wanda assumed to be her room.

“You can borrow something of mine until we have more workout clothes for you. Tony said he’d order some, which means Pepper most likely already has them on the way,” she said. 

“Thank you,” Wanda said as the other woman handed her a pair of yoga pants and a tank top.

She hesitantly began to change and stumbled a bit when Natasha changed her own clothes in front of her without a care. Wanda figured if the other woman had no shame, then neither should she. She stopped folding into herself and quickly changed, noticing Natasha was almost done. 

Wanda barely glanced at the Black Widow’s bare arse when she was thrown into a flashback of a naked redheaded woman crawling on the bed, making her way to someone on it. All she could see was the back of the woman, but something about her seemed familiar, as did the scene itself.

Suddenly she was back in Natasha’s room in the middle of putting on her shirt. Wanda felt herself blush all the way down to her chest and finished putting on the tank, refusing to make eye contact with the redhead on their way back to the training room.

“Nat,” Steve said as the two of them walked in. With a nod, she stepped onto the mat meant for their fighting while Wanda went to stand next to Sam.

“Some of you might know these moves but others don’t. Either way, it’s a good review,” Steve told their small group. “I want you to watch us fight and observe how we attack and defend.”

Natasha and Steve start fighting but Wanda is too busy thinking about the redhead she saw. She knew it wasn’t something she personally experienced but it was so lifelike, like she was watching it happen.

Wanda glanced up at Natasha and saw the woman smirk at her. 

Again, Wanda saw saw the mystery redhead woman with her bare bottom in the air, seducing whatever person was in the bed with her. 

Embarrassed, Wanda looked away.

“Alright, now to see if you were paying attention. Wanda?” Steve asked. 

Her head whipped up to look at the super soldier. 

“Come on, you’re up,” he said with a grin, as if he knew she hadn’t been paying attention.

He probably did and was choosing her on purpose. 

Jerk.

Wanda stood up and made her way to the mat. She could hear Sam cheering for her and Vision was offering her tips on how to beat Natasha. All she could do was pull down her sleeves and look at the ground. 

If Natasha even knew what had been crossing her mind, she’d be a joining her brother. 

“It’s okay, Wanda,” she heard Rhodey tell her. She turned to look at him and he smiled. “It’s just to see what you know.”

Wanda nodded right as the Captain said go. Before she knew what was happening, she was on the floor with Natasha on top, pulling her fist back. 

Wanda pushed her back and rolled away right as the other woman let her fist fly forward, missing her by centimeters. Wanda looked back at her only to have her head snapping the other direction with the force of the punch Natasha landed. 

_ Oh, hell no, _ Wanda thought and moved out of the way of another punch. With anger, she rushed at the Widow, easily dodging all her punches and kicks, and tackles her to the floor.

With her powers she keeps Natasha from getting up.

“Yeah, go Wanda!” She heard Sam yell and she looked up to see everyone smiling and clapping. Looking down, she saw Nat smiling up at her. 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” Wanda said, realizing that she still had Natasha under her.

“Don’t,” Nat said and gently pat her on the back as she sent her away. 

“That was brilliant,” someone said next to her and Wanda jumped. Glancing over, she saw a smiling Vision standing too close. He held out an ice pack for her.

“Thanks,” she said, taking the ice and putting it against her jaw.

He kept smiling at her and his pale blue eyes seemed to want to uncover all of her secrets.

Falling back on old habits, Wanda looked down and let her hair form a curtain around her face.

“Vision?” She heard Cap’s voice and almost let out a sigh of relief.

Looking up, she caught sight of Natasha smirking again.

Alternating her gaze between Vision and Wanda, she winked at the girl before fighting Vision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter picks up in AoU, which means you can assume that the twins were wiped and given to Strucker and List to watch while Pierce and Bucky went to deal with everything that happened in CAWS. So basically, the twins remember nothing of their previous life with HYDRA. Also, I’m so sorry for updating late today. I forgot I had a night class today and didn’t plan ahead. I promise to try and be more prepared next time. I’ll try to keep daily updates during the week but weekends might be a bit harder so please bear with me.


	14. Base Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! This one is a really long chapter so I hope you enjoy it! Also, I’ve noticed errors in my work which I’m honestly too lazy to go back and fix, so please don’t judge me too hard on those. I’m working without a beta reader on this, so mistakes will slip by me.  
> Like always, I don’t own anything relating to the characters.

_ “Wanda,” the deep, soothing voice said from next to her.  _

_ Wanda turned her head and caught sight of a gorgeous pair of deep blue eyes. With a smile, she turned her body towards him. _

_ “Hey,” she said. _

_ “Wanda,” he said again, his eyes moving forward. She saw a stand of black hair fall into his face and with a small laugh, she reached up to brush it behind his ear. _

_ She saw the eyes coming close and become slightly hooded. Her body automatically reacted and she closed her eyes as soft lips touched her.  _

_ She knew these lips. She knew they were soft but firm, shy at first but confident. She knew they tasted of mint and plums and sometimes they had a hint of blood on them but she loved it. She loved the man the lips were attached to. _

_ She pulled back and saw a crooked smile on the bruised lips in front of her. _

_ “Shut up,” she teased, feeling the smugness coming from the man in front of her. _

_ He opened his mouth to respond but instead of a smart remark, a horrifying scream escaped his lips. _

_ The tortured screaming continued and Wanda reached in front of her hoping to comfort him but her hands met nothing where she was sure he should be. Instead, all she could see were his eyes as they fell. They were falling and all she knew was snow and pain and terrified blue eyes.  _

_ Wanda screamed when she heard the cracking of bones and the eyes were gone but she saw blood covered snow all around her. _

_ “Wanda,” someone said. She looked around and called for help. _

_ “Wanda,” the voice said again and it wasn’t the voice from earlier but she recognized it. _

_ “Wake up!” the voice urged but she didn’t know how to get out of this nightmare. _

_ “Help!” she screamed and the cold air around her carried her voice away into nothing. _

_ “Wanda, wake up!” she heard again. She cried out, wanting nothing more than to get to the voice but she was stuck. _

_ Suddenly the ground started shaking and she saw snow tumbling off of the mountains. She closed her eyes and let snow cover her body. _

With a gasp, Wanda quickly sat up in her bed.

“Wanda,” someone said from beside her.

Her hands were already glowing red when she raised them and turned to see who was in her room with her. 

Steve slowly raised his hands.

“Wanda, it’s okay. You’re safe, you’re with us, there’s nothing to worry about,” he said as softly as he could. He knew anything too loud could frighten her.

“Steve,” she said in a choked sob.

She threw her arms around him and he held her as she cried out her fear. He gently smoothed out her hair as she shook in his arms, only shifting her so he could sit on the bed.

“Do you want to tell me about it?” he asked when she had calmed down to an occasional hiccup.

“I-I don’t- I can’t remember,” she said, flushing and pulling back in shame. She refused to look at him.

“Hey, it’s fine,” Steve said and pat her knee. “Dreams are like that, even nightmares. While the memory of it is gone, it doesn’t necessarily mean the emotions attached are.”

Wanda looked up and saw his light blue eyes full of understanding. 

“I’m sorry for waking you,” she said, pulling herself back to give him more space.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m here for my team in any way they need me,” he said with a gentle smile. 

She tried to return it but she was pretty sure it came out more like a grimace. 

“How are you dealing with things here? I know it’s only been about a week but I hope you’ve come to see this place as a home,” he said.

Wanda sighed.

“I do appreciate what you’ve all done for me, despite what I did in Sokovia,” she began. “I’ve come to see you guys like my new family, but I still miss him, you know?”

Steve nodded.

“I know we can’t replace your brother, no one will, but we  _ are _ your family, Wanda. Being part of the Avengers doesn’t just mean we fight together, it means we’re family and we’d do anything to protect each other. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been part of the team for a day or a decade,” he said. 

Wanda felt her eyes sting with emotion and smiled at him.

“Thank you,” she said.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a few seconds.

“How’s the search for your friend going?” she asked. “Bucky, was it?” 

Steve let out a humorless chuckle. 

“Yeah, that,” he said, looking up at her ceiling. 

“It’s damn near impossible to find Buck if he doesn’t want to be found. Even before everything happened, he was always good at hiding,” he said.

Wanda wanted to ask more about what ‘everything’ meant but she got distracted when she felt a nudging at the base of her head.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked, wanting to help her friend.

“Actually, there is,” Steve said with a playful grin. “You can try to get some rest so you’re good for training tomorrow. Or, I guess it’s later today now, isn’t it?” 

Wanda rolled her eyes but huffed in amusement anyway.

“If you can’t win a fight then what use to me are you?” he asked, getting off the bed.

“Oh, gee, I don’t know. It’s not like I can magically move things with my mind or anything like that,” she said, her words dripping with sarcasm. 

Steve laughed.

“Okay, good point. But I still need you rested, alright?” he asked, his facial expression stern but his eyes dancing with laughter.

“Yes, dad,” Wanda answered.

Steve’s face broke out in a grin and he pat her head before walking out of her room. 

Shaking her head and chuckling to herself, Wanda laid back down and fell into a dreamless sleep.

X_X_X

Wanda was in the training room using one of Steve’s punching bags. She’d been having difficulty sleeping the last few days and found out that there was a reason the Captain kept so many of these around. 

They really did help.

“Wanda,” she heard a sultry voice behind her and closed her eyes before opening them again and turning to one of the reasons she couldn’t sleep.

“Nat,” she said.

“Why are you avoiding me?” the other woman asked, getting straight to the point.

Wanda used her training with the spy to clear her face of any emotion.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m not avoiding you. We’re here, aren’t we?” she asked, looking directly into the green eyes of the Black Widow.

Natasha smirked.

“While your eye contact and neutral face were great, you’re giving too much away. Sometimes less is best,” she said.

Nat took a step closer and Wanda stepped away. The smirk grew.

“Come,” she said, taking the younger girl by the wrist and pulling her outside.

She went to sit by the small garden someone had started, using the burn marks of the bifrost as a design. Wanda hoped Heimdall wouldn’t open a portal there again and ruin the person’s hard work.

Natasha pat the space next to her and with a sigh, Wanda went to sit with her.

The older woman looked at her with a raised eyebrow and Wanda closed her eyes.

“It’s just so embarrassing,” she finally said, glancing at the Black Widow.

The eyebrow didn’t move.

With a blush slowly rising up her neck, Wanda moved her eyes to the sky and asked Pietro to send her help. Or to have the ground open up and swallow her.

“Okay,” she said taking a deep breath. “Okay.”

“Okay,” she said again.

“Say that one more time and I’ll leave you with broken bones in places you didn’t even know had bones. Start talking,” Nat said.

Holding back a shiver, Wanda nodded.

“Um… I just… Ugh, screw it! I don’t know how to say this, but whenever I look at you I see you naked,” she finally spilled. 

The Black Widow rarely showed emotion but even Wanda could tell that she was shocked.

“It’s not like I  _ want  _ to see you naked, or that I’m actively trying to see you naked,” she rushed to say. “It’s more like when I see you I think back to something else that I saw at some point, I think. I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever been in a situation where I could have seen that in person, but it’s just there, you know?” she rambled on.

“What do you see?” Natasha asked and Wanda was grateful she hadn’t tried to hurt her or anything. 

“Well… I see a naked redhead with long, curly hair on a bed, crawling towards something. Or someone, I guess. That makes more sense,” she muttered the last part to herself. 

“Anyway, it’s always the same thing whenever I see you and I’m, like, ninety four percent sure it’s you. Except I’ve never seen you like that and in all the time I’ve known you, you’ve had short hair,” Wanda said.

“I used to have long hair,” Natasha said. “But I’m pretty sure you’ve never seen me naked. Half-naked, yes, but not fully nude. And especially not in the bedroom,” she said with a small teasing smile on her lips.

Wanda let out a relieved breath. The Widow wasn’t angry, thank the heavens.

“I’m just so confused as to why I keep seeing that,” Wanda admitted.

“You probably saw that on TV or somewhere else and attached it to me since I’m the only redhead you know,” Natasha said.

“That makes sense,” she said, smiling at the spy.

“Anyway, since we’re out here, why don’t you tell me what’s going on with Vision?” Nat asked. 

Wanda frowned.

“What do you mean? Is something wrong with him?” she asked.

Nat rolled her eyes.

“Haven’t you noticed the way he keeps looking at you during practice?” she asked.

“Well, yeah,” Wanda said. “But what does that have to do with anything?”

The Black Widow gave her a look and then it hit her like a snowball to the face.

“Oh my  _ god,” _ she whispered in shocked horror.

Everyone froze as Natasha’s laugh could be heard all around the Avenger’s base.

X_X_X

_ How much can you lift?  _

Wanda wrapped her powers around objects she could find in the room. The voice in her head wasn’t hers and she had a strong feeling it was a memory but she couldn’t remember from where. She knew it was the same voice from her nightmares, though.

Frustrated at not knowing why she kept remembering these things and frustrated that it was nearing midnight and she was wide awake, she continued lifting things off of the floor. Chairs, weights, mats, books. Anything her powers touched found itself floating. Wanda hadn’t even noticed the sweat dripping down her face or the slight tremble to her hands.

“You’re going to wear yourself out,” she heard Steve call out from the door. Putting all the objects down where they belonged, she turned to face him. He was leaning against the door frame.

“Well, that’s kind of the point,” she said.

“The point is to strengthen your body and mind,” he said.

“Are you saying my fighting is bad?” she said, crossing her arms.

He smiled and made his way over to her.

“Well, it certainly isn’t the best,” he said.

“Of course it isn’t. Next to Captain America and the Black Widow I’ll never be the best,” she said with an eye roll.

Steve laughed.

“Come on, let’s go a few rounds,” he said, walking over to the blue mat in the middle of the room.

“What? Like, right now?” she asked, unfolding her arms.

“Sure, why not? Let’s make use of this time,” he said. 

“I  _ was _ making use of this time by practicing with my powers,” Wanda said, but still walked over to the mat.

“How about I let you use your powers in the fight? Then you can practice both,” he said with a smile.

Wanda’s face lit up in excitement. She was never allowed to use her powers in a mock fight before.

“You’re on, old man,” she said with a mocking glare.

“Oh, it’s on,” he said with a laugh.

Wanda was humiliated to discover that even when using her powers to block his punches, Steve still got the upper hand and won their pretend fight many times.

“You’re small, Wanda, use that. The main point right now isn’t to beat me, it’s to keep me from beating you,” he said.

_ “Protect yourself. Don’t let me get the upper hand.” _

The voice rang through her mind clear as day and Wanda stumbled back a bit.

_ “During the practice I’ll do something new and I want you to be ready for it.” _

_ “You want me to go into your head?”  _

_ “I knew you’d catch on.”  _

Wanda felt as if she was just told her puppy died. The ache inside her chest was suffocating. 

“You good to go again?” Steve asks, concern evident on his face.

Wanda felt the world around her shift into HD and she knew her eyes were glowing red, ready for an attack. Shaking the weird feeling off, she nodded.

As Steve went in for an attack, Wanda blocked him and let herself enter his mind. She read his next move and not only blocked it before he could act on it, but she also managed to push him back a little. Alternating between blocking and reading, Wanda’s body went into automatic and she focused on her powers. It slid around her with ease and was ready to move at her command.

She allowed her powers to wrap around Steve and hang him upside down in front of her.

“Where did that come from?” he asked, his face quickly turning red. “I’ve never seen you fight like that during training. And I’m pretty sure we haven’t taught some of those moves yet.”

“I’m not sure,” she said, looking at her hands as if somehow they would hold the answer.

“Could you have been taught in HYDRA?” he asked.

“I don’t think so, they didn’t really have us do any training besides controlling our powers,” she answered.

“Well, whatever that was, want to keep practicing with it?” he asked.

“Same time?” she asked in return.

His smile came out a little pained. 

“Put me down and we can train whatever time you want,” he said. 

After that night they fought regularly and Wanda could feel herself getting stronger. Even in training with the big group, everyone noticed her improvement.

While everyone complimented her on her skill, Steve couldn’t help but feel a sense of deja vu. Her fighting style was smooth and straight to the point and Steve had the odd feeling that he’d seen that same style somewhere else before.

X_X_X

_ Day five: I’m dead on the inside and no one has noticed. Although, I’m pretty sure we’re all dead and just not saying anything. _

Wanda was sitting on a swing at a park meant for children, although there were currently none. She’d glowered at the small humans who dared get close enough and eventually they all left.

All this in hopes that she came across Steve’s friend. A friend that she heard so much about but still hadn’t actually  _ seen _ . A friend who  _ could  _ be here but probably wasn’t. It was all frustrating and boring and five days of this had her glaring at innocent children. As much as she admired the Captain, she was one  _ ‘for Bucky’  _ away from throwing him out the window.

Not that it would do anything, the man was constantly throwing himself out of windows all on his own. 

Deciding to distract herself a bit, she mentally reached out to people around her, coming into contact with Sam’s mind first, who happened to be across the street from the park.

She wasn’t at all shocked to find him staring at the birds flying by, trying to identify them.

She moved on and came across Steve, who was walking down the street looking around. He mentally paused when he saw a cute girl passing by before blushing and repeatedly apologizing to her in his mind. 

Wanda laughed to herself as he kept his eyes firmly ahead of himself after that.

Suddenly all she could see was red mist and felt soft lips moving against her own. A moan escaped the lips she was kissing and then she was back at the park.

_ What the hell?  _ She asked herself, looking around to see if anyone caught her thinking about things she shouldn’t.

_ It’s probably like the redhead thing, _ she told herself, shaking her head to clear her mind. It didn’t work because she could still feel lips hungrily kissing her and a cold hand running up her left side.

Looking down, Wanda was shocked to see goosebumps running up her arm.

“Cold?” a voice asked from above her, their shadow covering her.

She squinted up to see Steve holding a coffee out to her. She took it from him and sipped.

“Not really, I just thought I felt a bug on my arm but it turned out to be my hair,” she said with a shrug. “Thanks for the coffee, by the way.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, sitting on the swing next to her.

“Steve, what’s your friend like? I just realized I come on these missions to help find him but I don’t even know what he looks like,” she said, slowly swinging back and forth on the swing.

Steve reached into the pocket of his pants with the hand that didn’t have his cup of coffee and pulled out his wallet. Opening it up, he handed it to her. Gently taking it from him, she looked down to see a picture of Steve with another man who looked oddly familiar. They both had army uniforms.

“Wait… Isn’t that the Winter Soldier?” she asked, handing the wallet back to Steve. He looked questioningly at her.

“Fury was asking me about him on the flight back from Sokovia,” she said. “Even showed me a picture of him.”

Steve put his wallet away and took a sip of his drink.

“Yeah, he was taken by HYDRA when we thought he had died and they made him into a killing machine. Named him the Winter Soldier and let him loose on their enemies. He only made it into Shield’s radar recently, along with you and your brother,” he said, glancing at her. “The file said you two fought together.”

Wanda sighed. 

“I don’t know why. I never met him while we were in HYDRA. Maybe there were more experiments and those were who they sent to fight alongside him,” she said.

“With the same powers?” he asked.

“I don’t know, the scepter was the one giving out powers. It’s possible,” she said, although as soon as she said the words it felt wrong to her. 

“Yeah, that’s possible. We didn’t have much information on the scepter before it was taken during the fight in New York and when we got it back Tony used it to make Ultron,” he said a bit downcast.

Wanda shifted beside him.

“I’m sure we’ll find him,” she said out of nowhere.

It made Steve look up with a small smile and she knew it was the right thing to say.

“You think?” he asked.

“Sure. Have you met yourself? You’re as stubborn as an old man,” she said,

“Which you are,” Sam cut in through their ear piece.

Steve rolled his eyes and Wanda grinned.

“What I’m saying is that as hard as it is to find Bucky when he doesn’t want to be found, it’s just as hard to hide from you when you’re looking for something,” she said.

“Thanks, Wanda,” he said with a smile. He reached over and ruffled her hair up.

“Hey!” she said with a laugh.

“Come on guys, let’s go home,” he said, standing up.

“Finally,” rang Sam’s voice in her ear.

X_X_X

Wanda was in her room reading when she felt a pricking sensation vibrating against her forehead.

Without missing a beat she called her powers to her hands and blast it in the direction of the intruder. Vision doubled over in pain and finished morphing through the wall only to fall to the floor.

“Oh my god, Vision!” she exclaimed, throwing her book to the side and rushing to his side. 

“I’m so sorry! Here, let me help you,” she said, bending down to help him stand. When his arm was securely around her neck, she brought him over to her bed.

“Thank you,” he said, still folding into himself. 

“I’m so sorry!” Wanda repeated.

“I guess I should have knocked first,” Vision said with a chuckle. 

Wanda offered a small laugh and nodded.

“Yeah, that would be helpful. It’s not normal for people to go around phasing into other people’s rooms,” she said. 

There was an awkward silence as neither of them said anything.

“So, um, did you need something or…?” Wanda finally asked.

He looked at her and she shifted uncomfortably under the intensity of his pale blue eyes.

“I wanted to talk. It feels like you’ve been avoiding me,” he said.

Wanda shrugged her shoulders and looked down at her hands.

“I guess I have, but I also did that with Nat, so don’t feel like it’s just you,” she said. “I tend to avoid people I don’t know how to behave around.”

“But you’re okay with everyone else now, why are you unsure about how to behave around me?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Wanda started. “I guess it’s because of the last time I was in your mind. I still connect you to Ultron even though I know that’s not who you are.

“And I know what everyone else thinks of me, what they expect of me. With you I don’t know,” she admitted, looking up at him. 

“Wanda, I admire you,” he said. “I’ve never come across anyone like you before.”

“Well, you haven’t been alive for very long, and the only people you really interact with are the Avengers here,” she said. 

Vision shook his head.

“You intrigue me like no one else. I want to know more about you, learn things no one else knows,” he said taking her hands into his.

Wanda felt as if she was watching herself from somewhere far within her mind.

“Like a friend?” she heard herself say.

Vision shook his head.

“I want to get to know you differently than how I want to know Natasha, or Steve or anyone else,” he said. 

Wand knew there was only one thing he could mean but her mind refused to accept it. 

“I don’t know what that means, what this feeling is, but I want to work it out with you. Will you give me a chance?” he asked. His synthetic eyes looked at her with so much innocent hope only someone like him could have.

_ You don’t even feel the same way! Say no, _ she yelled at herself.  _ You’re only thinking it over because he’s the only guy to show interest in you like that. _

Wanda felt her mouth open and close.

Suddenly hopelessness flooded her every pore and she knew she she’d lost with herself. 

“Okay, sure,” she heard herself say. 

She felt herself drop back into her body and offered him a weak smile.

“Thank you, Wanda,” he said with a shy smile. He stood up and brought her hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles. 

“I’ll see you around,” he said before walking through the wall.

“Okay, sure,” she repeated. 

Her words mocked her as they danced around in the empty room. 


	15. Understanding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! This chapter isn’t as long as the previous one, so please forgive me. If it’s a little weird or confusing at times, please forgive me for that too. I’m typing this while half asleep. It’s only been three weeks but school is already draining me of life.  
> Anyway, I don’t own anything.

_ Lift me. _

“Come one Wanda, lift me,” Steve said.

Wand shook the voice from her head and focused on Steve. Her powers wrapped around him with familiarity. With little more than a wave she urged herself to lift him, but he stood planted on the ground.

Using more force, she barely made him shift. 

“Are you even trying?” he joked.

“Well, what are you even made of? Bricks? You gotta go easy on the senior discounted meals, pal. You’re not burning it off like you used to ninety years ago,” she bit back.

She could hear Sam and Nat laughing from the other room where they were training.

Steve gave her a grin and urged her to try again.

She tried focusing on him instead of his body and she felt her powers intertwine with his every cell. When she had over half of his body in her control, she lifted her hands up and he went from the first floor to the second without any trouble. Wanda quickly withdrew her powers from him.

“That was great, Wanda!” he yelled down to her. She gave him a thumbs up and called her water bottle to her as he jumped back down.

“Show off,” she said before taking a sip of her water.

“We should give it a try with you,” he said, taking her bottle away from her and drinking the rest of her water.

“Hey!” she said with a frown. She knew she couldn’t stay mad when Steve sent her a wink.

“She already did that during our first group training,” Natasha said walking up to them. Sam came shortly after her.

“Hey Steve, we found some new updates on your friend’s whereabouts. Do you want to look them over?” Sam asked, barely acknowledging her with a nod.

“Sure. I’ll be back Wanda, alright?” he said, turning to her. She nodded at him and he turned to incline his head towards the Widow. “Nat.”

With that, the two of them left the women alone.

“I’m thinking we could-” 

Wanda didn’t let her finish.

“Your russian name, is it Natalia?” she asked.

Natasha stiffened and glanced at her suspiciously. 

“Yeah, why do you ask?” she questioned.

“I saw the memory I told you about in my dream,” Wanda started. “Except this time I saw your face on the woman and I heard a man say Natalia. And you looked younger, too. And there was a small tattoo under your right breast and-”

This time Natasha was the one to shut her up with a hand over her mouth.

“Where did you see this?” she asked harshly.

Wanda shrugged.

Natasha took her hand off and dared her to say too much again.

“Like I said, I don’t know where I saw this. I don’t think  _ I  _ ever saw this, but it’s you, right?” Wanda asked.

Nat nodded and raised her shirt to show Wanda the underside of her right breast. There was a tiny tattoo of a ballerina holding a knife.

“I got it shortly after meeting… Someone. He called me his killer ballerina and I got it as a surprise for him,” Nat said, pulling her shirt back down. “That was a long time ago, though.”

“You loved him,” Wanda said, slightly in awe. She didn’t see Nat as the type of woman to feel so much for another person, but she could see the emotions under her words. 

“Love is for children,” Natasha said, turning her back to Wanda and walking towards the door. 

“I may have been one when all of that happened, but I’ve grown since then,” she added, walking out and leaving Wanda alone with her thoughts.

“What are you thinking about?” Vision said from beside her and her scream was heard all around the base.

X_X_X

_ “Why me? I’m no good for you, Wanda. I’ve killed people, I’ve lived more than you can imagine. You can do better.” _

_ “Maybe I could, but I like you, Soldier.” _

Wanda woke with a start and rubbed her hands across her face. She was shocked to feel moisture falling from her eyes.

“Wanda, are you awake?” Steve asked from the other side of the door.

_ Of course he’d be here. Damn his enhanced hearing, _ Wanda thought to herself.

“Yeah, Steve, what’s up?”

“May I come in?” he asked.

Wanda used her powers to open the door for him and sat up in her bed.

Steve took in her tear-stained face and practically flew to her side.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her.

Wanda shook her head.

“I don’t know. I was having a good dream, I remember that much. I don’t know why I’m crying. I’m sorry for waking you,” she said.

Steve waved her apology away.

“Sometimes coming down to reality from a good dream can cause pain,” he said, looking out her window. 

Wanda knew he understood where she was coming from. She’d often pick up on his dreams and watch him dancing with a fierce looking brunette, all smiles and laughter. When he’d wake up his misery would crush her to the bed. 

“I see your friend in my dreams,” she mumbled.

At this Steve turned sharply to her.

“It’s weird, I see him falling from a train and landing on the ground. I hear the breaking of bones and the splatter of blood and I think, ‘Oh, he’s dead,’ but then I hear his groaning and I get so…  _ hurt _ because I know he’s going to be brought back to HYDRA. And I know they’re going to torture him in the name of science and I can  _ smell  _ the burning flesh as they attach the metal arm to him, but I can’t do anything,” she said, silent tears falling from her eyes.

“And I feel like I’m failing you now like I failed him,” she admitted. 

She jumped slightly when she felt Steve wrap his arms around her. She wiped her nose with her sleeve before leaning her head on his shoulder.

“You aren’t failing me, and you never will,” he said, squeezing her a bit at that. “And don’t take blame for what happened to Buck, you weren’t a part of that.”

“But they did all these awful things to him against his will and we  _ volunteered _ , Steve. We went willingly into it. We-” she stopped as her throat closed up. 

“Shh, it’s okay,” Steve said. She felt something touch the side of her head and it threw Wanda off balance. Since when did Cap give out kisses to heads? 

“You were manipulated by them, Wanda. You and Pietro. That’s what they do, they take hold of your mind and erase everything else until the only thing left is them,” he said, pulling back to look at her. 

Wanda wasn’t functioning, thought. 

Her mind was stuck on ‘erase.’

The throbbing she’d come to ignore starting again, practically banging at her mind’s doors.

“Wanda?” Steve asked again, slightly shaking her.

“Steve, do you think they erased our memories? Is that even possible?” she asked. Her voice came out small and frightened. 

“Oh, Wanda,” he sighed. “I won’t lie to you and say it’s not possible, because it is. It’s what they’ve been doing to Bucky for who knows how long.”

Wanda took in a trembling breath. 

“Would I know if they took something from me?” she asked, looking up at him. 

His blue eyes swam with concern and she noticed they had a bit of green in them.

“I don’t know,” he said. 

He pulled her close again and she wrapped her arms around his middle, finding comfort in his lemon-y scent. 

Looking out her window she swore to herself she’d find Bucky. For Steve, but also so she could ask him about HYDRA. 

X_X_X

“Wanda,” Vision said from across the room. 

She was currently in the library struggling over some chemistry books. Tony found out she never finished her ‘high school education’ and made sure to send her weekly assignments to help her study for her ‘GED.’ Wanda had no idea what any of it meant, but the Captain had sided with Tony and she was left with no choice but to learn things. At least this wasn’t so bad, she was actually pretty good at chemistry. It was math that made her want to burn her books.

“Yeah?” she called out absentmindedly. 

“Can I talk to you?” he asked. 

Wanda had to struggle to keep her annoyance from showing on her face.

“Sure! What’s up?” she asked, slamming her book shut.

Vision walked closer to her and sat across the table with her.

“What’s going on with you and Captain Rogers?” he asked.

Wanda blinked at him. 

“What?” 

He had the nerve to look embarrassed.

“I’ve noticed you two seem to spend an unusually large amount of time together. I assumed something was going on between you two. Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked. His powder blue eyes held no judgement, only confusion.

With a sigh, Wanda pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Vision,” she started before shaking her head. “Vision, that’s absurd. I admire the Captain like a friend,” she told him. 

“I’m a friend,” Vision said. 

Wanda wanted to break something.

“Well, yes, but you made it clear that you want to be  _ more _ than friends. Is that not what we’ve been trying?” she asked.

“You’ve been so distant lately, Wanda. I thought it had something to do with the Captain and your growing relationship.”

“Vision, I’m not dating Steve, if that’s what you’re trying to say. Please, it’s insulting to be accused of cheating. I’m not that kind of girl,” she said.

“My apologies. I just thought that since we’ve been dating for a few weeks and still haven’t kissed, you were perhaps looking somewhere else.”

Wanda felt her powers rise in anger and she had to count to ten to calm herself down.

“I’ve been so busy I hadn’t realized,” she said. 

He stared at her and she knew she couldn’t walk out of this one.

“Okay, come here,” she said, patting the chair next to her. 

He walked right through the table and sat next to her. 

“Are you ready?” he asked, placing a hand on her knee. She nodded and closed her eyes.

She felt a soft pressure and then nothing.

Opening her eyes she saw Vision smiling widely at her and she returned the smile. 

“How was that?” she asked.

“Perfect,” he said, leaning in to press his lips against hers one more time before getting up and walking out of the library. 

Wanda raised her hand to her lips and couldn’t help but compare his kiss to the ones she dreamt about from a man with black hair and eyes as blue as the sea.


	16. Remembering

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Here’s chapter 16! I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. We get more Steve/Wanda moments because I love writing those two. I don’t know whether I’m heading for a father/daughter relationship or brother/sister one, but there definitely isn’t any romantic feeling between these two.   
> Anyway, I own nothing.

“Steve,” came the stiff call of Natasha.

The man turned and saw her walking up to him. 

“Nat,” he said.

“We need to talk,” she said, walking past him and into an empty room. With a sigh, Steve followed her and shut the door behind them.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Wanda knows James,” she said. 

Steve straightened up. 

“What makes you say that?” he asked.

With a sigh, the Widow went to sit by the window. 

“When I was in the Black Widow program we were trained by the best there was at the time. He was a HYDRA Soldier and was the perfect teacher, having been stripped of everything that made him human,” she said. 

“Bucky,” Steve muttered.

Natasha turned to face him and nodded.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Steve asked, not bothering to hide the hurt he felt.

“Steve, I couldn’t. You didn’t give me a chance to, you were too focused on finding him,” she said. 

Steve went to sit next to her by the window.

“What does that have to do with Wanda?” he said.

“James and I dated,” she said, trying to ignore Steve’s shocked face. “He was the Winter Soldier and I was the best Black Widow, we were often paired up together for missions. Being together for long periods of time brought up feelings we were taught to ignore, but when you’re far away from everyone, it’s hard to remember why you were supposed to ignore them in the first place. 

“He often teased me as being his killer ballerina because he saw me during training, dancing along with the other Widows in our tutus. One day I went and got a tattoo of a ballerina with a knife. He loved it, of course,” Nat said, taking in a deep breath.

“Nat,” Steve said, urging her to get to the point. 

“He was the only one who saw that tattoo. I always kept it covered up when I was with other men,” she said. “But somehow, Wanda knew about it. She keeps having these memories of a redhead in a bed with someone else. They called me Natalia and the tattoo was on display. Somehow, someway, Wanda saw that. She saw me with James and I’m willing to be it was because she was with him and looked into his memories.”

Beside her, Steve drew in a deep breath.

“When we were caught, we were forced to forget. But I’ve had enough hits to the head to gain most of my memories back,” she said with a humorless laugh. 

“You think the same thing happened with Buck and Wanda?” Steve asked. 

She looked at him.

“Don’t you?”

Steve stood up.

“It’s a possibility. But I won’t hurt her to confirm my suspicions,” he said.

Natasha thought about how she could accidentally knock the Witch out during their practice and see if that brought anything back. 

“And neither should you,” he added. “I trust that if she remembers anything, she’ll come to me as soon as she does.”

Natasha flinched at the accusation in his voice.

Steve turned around and walked out of the room. He began wondering if Wanda’s dreams about Bucky had more to do with her own suppressed memories rather than fears over failing Steve as a friend. 

Unknown to the two Avengers, there was a young girl with glowing red eyes listening from the room next to where they were talking.

X_X_X

“Vision,” Wanda called out as she stormed into his room. 

The man quickly flew over to where she was.

“Wanda, what’s wrong?” he asked, concern evident in his voice.

“I need you to hurt me,” she said.

Vision jerked back from her and took in her shaken appearance. Her hair was messy, as if she had been running her hands through it or tried pulling it out. Her eyes were glowing red and that was enough warning for the man to take careful steps around the upset witch.

“The Mars rover sings happy birthday to itself on the anniversary of its arrival,” Vision said.

Wanda’s eyes stopped glowing and she seemed rooted in place. He took that as a sign that it was okay to get near her. 

“Why would you say that?” she asked. 

“You told me-”

“Actually, I’m sure I can convince Tony to do something about that. Maybe do like a video call with the little guy? Or we could join the rover in Mars! Wouldn’t that be cool?” she said, suddenly lighting up.

“Wait, no, stop,” she said, shaking her head. 

Vision watched in apprehension. 

“I mean I need you to physically hurt me. Punch me really hard on the head,” she said. 

“Why?” he asked. 

“I think I’ve been robbed of my memories and I want them back. I overheard Nat and Steve talking and she said head trauma helped,” Wanda said, glancing up at him. 

Vision shook his head and reached over to grasp her shoulders.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Wanda. You’ll have to look somewhere else for that kind of help,” he said. 

She pulled out of his grasp and stormed out of his room. 

He could only watch in amusement as she left a trail of red mist along her path. 

X_X_X

“Steve, we need to talk,” were the first words out of Wanda’s mouth as she walked into his office.

“Sure, what’s up kid?” he asked, turning in his seat to face her. 

She plopped down in one of the chairs in front of his desk and closed her eyes.

“I think Nat is right,” she said.

Confused, Steve only stared at her. 

Opening her eyes, Wanda sat up straight and tried to ignore her insides twisting with nerves.

“I think my memories were taken from me. I think I might have known your friend,” she said, her voice shaking but her stance strong. A cooling sensation spreading over her mind made her sure of it as soon as the words were out of her mouth. It felt right. 

Steve admired how she sat confidently even as her nerves threatened to take over her body.

“Wait,” he said, suddenly understanding her words. “You were listening?” 

Wanda shrunk in her seat and broke her eye contact.

“I didn’t mean to, I promise. But sometimes my mind wanders and I can hear conversations other people are having. It’s just so hard to keep my mind in check all the time,” she said, sounding oddly timid.

Steve sighed.

“You should have told me, Wanda. I could’ve helped you control them. Going around listening to what other people are saying, what they’re thinking, that’s not okay.”

Wanda looked up at him and saw the apology in her eyes.

“I’ll let it slide this time, but please be more careful in the future,” he said. 

With a nod, she shot him a small smile.

“So… What do you plan to do with that?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he answered. “You heard what I told Nat, I’m not going to hurt you just to uncover a few Bucky moments,” he said. 

“But what if it helps us find him?” she questioned.

Steve shook his head.

“I don’t care if it leads us straight to his door, I won’t risk hurting you,” he said with a sense of finality. 

Wanda felt warmth spread inside her and had to fight with herself so she wouldn’t attack the Captain in a hug.

“So,” Steve said, his voice becoming hard in an instant. Wanda blinked at the sudden change in mood. “I hear you’re dating Vision.”

She felt herself blush.

“Uh, yeah. We’ve been seeing each other for a few weeks,” she admitted.

She felt oddly ashamed under Steve’s nonchalant hum as he glared at his computer. 

“I don’t like it,” he said, glancing at her from the corner of his eye.

“Why?” Wanda asked, her annoyance shifting inside her, ready to rise and attack should the need be. She had gotten to know Vision enough to know he was kind and innocent. While she still doubted she liked him like  _ that _ she knew she cared about him as a friend, and she would not let Steve talk bad about him. 

As if he could read all of this in her head, he held his hands up.

“Whoa there, kitten, I’m not going to say he’s a bad person, because he’s not. He wouldn’t be here if he was. I just personally don’t like it. I don’t think he’s the right guy for you,” he said, lowering his hands. “He’s too intense, too…  _ new _ to really understand his emotions yet.”

Wanda huffed.

“Well, then I’ll just have to teach him what they are, won’t I?” she asked, crossing her arms and looking smugly at him. 

She knew she was being difficult but she didn’t care. She enjoyed seeing Steve lose his cool.

As expected, a slow blush crawled up his neck as he narrowed his eyes at her, misinterpreting her words just like she’d hoped he would. 

“Wanda, you can’t… you shouldn’t…” he stopped to take in a deep breath and Wanda was disappointed to see his flush begin to calm. 

“You’re still too new in this relationship to give everything to him,” he said, looking pointedly at her when he said ‘everything.’

“Even if Vision is the most trustworthy person on this planet, you still need to proceed with caution,” he said with a hint of annoyance. 

Wanda laughed.

“You’re just mad that he was able to lift the hammer,” she pointed out. 

Steve scoffed. 

“He was awake for all of five minutes and somehow the hammer thought him worthy enough to listen to him? Yeah, right. The thing probably thought he was an elevator or something,” Steve said, muttering the last part under his breath. 

Wanda laughed and stood up, walking around his desk to give him a tight hug.

“You’re the best, Steve,” she said, crushing her cheek to his as her arms wrapped tighter around the super soldier. 

“Yeah, I know. You’re not too bad yourself, kid,” he said, reaching up to ruffle her hair.

She pulled back with a laugh and made her way to the door, stopping to wave back at him.

“I love you,” she said.

Steve and Wanda froze and stared at each other for a fraction of a second before a slow grin grew on his face.

“Yeah, I love you too, Wanda,” he said with delight in his voice.

Her face lit up in joy and she left his office, a huge grin on her lips for the rest of the day. 

X_X_X

“Why are we doing this again?” Wanda asked after she ordered her tea.

“Because this guy has been hiding for a long time and we need to take him out,” Sam summarized in her ear.

“I don’t get it. What does this guy have to do with Bucky?” she asked, looking down at the table and picking at her nails. 

“He was Buck’s handler. If anyone knows anything about his location, it’s gotta be him,” Steve’s voice came from her ear. 

Wanda sighed in annoyance.

“Yeah, welcome to the Avengers, earth’s mightiest heroes, also part time private investigators and lost persons detectives,” Wanda heard Nat tell her through the earpiece. 

The waitress came with her tea and Wanda smiled up at the lady, thanking her for her service. She took some sugar packets and added it to her cup before picking up a spoon and stirring. The silence in her ear was comforting, although she knew it meant everyone else was looking at their surroundings. Raising her cup to her lips, Wanda glanced around the small shop she was seated in. The sweetened tea felt too warm as it slid down her throat. 

“Alright, what do you see?” Steve asked. She knew automatically that he was asking her, as the newbie. 

“Standard beat cops. Small station, quiet street. It’s a good target,” she answered.

It was weird how she could almost feel Steve’s pride at her observations. This was her first mission with Natasha and she knew Steve wanted to prove to the team she was ready for bigger missions other than hunting down his ghost friend. 

“There’s an ATM in the south corner, which means…” he trailed off, giving her the chance to answer. 

“Cameras,” she offered. 

“Both cross streets are one way,” he replied. She felt like she was back in the training room with him, answering his questions like a good student.

“So, compromised escape routes,” she added. 

“Means our guy doesn’t care about being seen, he isn’t afraid to make a mess on the way out,” he informed her. “You see that Range over halfway up the block?” 

Wanda cast a glance in that direction. 

“Oh, the red one? It’s cute,” she said, slightly jesting him.

“It’s also bulletproof,” Natasha’s voice cut in. “Which means private security, which means more guns, which means more headaches for somebody, probably us.”

Wanda struggled to keep from rolling her eyes and settled for narrowing her eyes as she brought her tea up to her mouth again. 

“You guys know I can move things with my mind, right?” she asked, annoyance laced with her words as she took a sip from her cup.

“Looking over your shoulder needs to become second nature,” Nat instructed. 

Wanda looked over her shoulder at the redhead seated behind her knowing it’d irritate the older woman. 

“Anybody ever tell you you’re a little paranoid?” she heard Sam ask.

“Not to my face. Why? Did you hear something?” Natasha answered in mock curiosity. 

“Eyes on target, folks. This is the best lead we’ve had on Rumlow in six months. I don’t want to lose him,” Steve’s voice cut through their banter. 

Wanda’s mind tuned everything else out as she tried to remember why that name sounded so familiar. She’d had the same reaction back at the base when Steve told her of their mission. 

_ Rumlow, _ she thought, trying to dig through her brain and find a connection to this man. The only thing that came up was the file Steve had showed her on the jet to Lagos.

Suddenly her vision turned blurry.

_ “We’re switching you off to another trainer, Brock Rumlow. He’ll help you get an idea of what it’s really like in everyday missions for HYDRA.” _

_ “Rumlow said you had a situation.” _

Wanda didn’t recognize the first voice, but she knew the second one was her brother’s. She would recognize that anywhere. But she didn’t  _ remember _ having either of those conversations, so how could she hear it so clearly in her mind?

“Go now,” came Steve’s command, shaking Wanda out of whatever trance she had fallen to. 

“Why?” she asked, confused. 

“He’s not hitting the police,” Steve answered. 

Wanda left her tea unfinished as she rushed to his side. 


	17. Doubts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Here’s an unusually long chapter because I couldn’t control myself. I hope you enjoy it! I tried not to make it too boring, but some things may repeat, especially since I’m writing stuff from the movie and we’ve all seen that, probably a million times by now.   
> Anyway, I don’t own the characters or the things I’m using from the movies.

Wanda detached herself from her body as she watched the TV. The footage from Lagos was like a knife to her heart as she saw all the damage she had caused, as she heard the accusations from the new anchor.

_ It’s your fault, _ she told herself.  _ Your fault, your fault, your fault.  _

The moment played in her mind on repeat as she watched her mentor hesitate at the mention of Bucky. She knew they were in trouble when Rumlow said that name and she watched from the shadows, ready to jump in when she was needed. 

Wanda noticed him activate the bomb vest before Steve and, terrified for her friend, she’d jumped in and tried to contain the explosion. 

She hadn’t thought about how hard it would be, how the energy of the explosion would make her powers go haywire. 

The only thing on her mind was to get the bomb as far away from Steve as possible and the only solution had been up. She was so close, just a few seconds away from reaching open air. 

But then she lost control and instead of saving the people she’d promised to protect she ended up killing them. And now this Wakanda place was judging her and the world was afraid of her. 

And what hurt most out of everything was Steve’s look as he watched the damage she had caused. Disappointment was evident in his broken gaze, it was apparent in the way he ran towards the destroyed building without so much as a glance at her. 

Wanda’s mind came back to sense when she heard the TV shut off. 

Her powers hummed with recognition. 

“It’s my fault,” she said, refusing to face him and see the disappointment there. 

“That’s not true,” he said.

“Turn the TV back on,” she said, turning her head in his direction. “They’re being very specific.”

She finally set her eyes on him and her insides twisted painfully to see him avoiding her gaze. 

“I should’ve clocked that bomb vest long before you had to deal with it,” Steve said, straightening up and finally looking at her. 

She could feel his apology radiating off of him in waves as he made his way closer to her. 

“Rumlow said ‘Bucky’... and all of a sudden I was a 16-year-old kid again, in Brooklyn.”

He sat down next to her and all she could do was watch him, slowly realizing that the disappointment wasn’t directed at her- it was for himself. 

“And people died,” he said, not looking at her. “It’s on me.”

Her heart ached for him.

“It’s on both of us,” she told him, her own way of saying she still had his back. 

Shortly after, Vision came in saying Tony had returned and brought a guest.

It took all of five minutes for Steve to reassure her that nothing bad was going to happen, that the Secretary of State probably just wanted to talk about what occurred in Lagos.

He had grasped her hand as they made their way down to the conference table, only letting go so he could take his seat. 

The meeting blurred once they were shown footage of all the damage they had caused in result of their ‘avenging.’ Wanda stared at the screen, frozen, when they showed footage of Sokovia and Lagos. She wanted to pause the video when she saw her brother on the screen alongside the Avengers, helping evacuate the city. Wanda didn’t know if she could handle more of this. 

She didn’t notice Steve watching her, barely even heard him say, “That’s enough.”

Her body was cold with fear, her powers were raging with all the accusations thrown her way. She didn’t know when they had moved but she was no longer sitting at the table and Vision was next to her, offering silent support. 

What she did notice was Tony saying how something would be done to the team and it wouldn’t be pretty. 

“You’re saying they’ll come for me,” she said, plucking the words from his thoughts. 

Vision was the one who answered her and she looked at him blankly. She tried to focus on the discussions going on around her but they all turned into a continuous hum, only to be broken by Steve saying he had to go. As much as she wanted to ask him where, beg him to take her with her, her body remained out of her reach as she sat next to Vision staring at nothing. 

X_X_X  
_A question of safety!_ Wanda thought angrily. 

She was pacing in her room trying to control her anger before making something explode. Goodness knows that’d be perfect right then.

_ I can’t believe it! One mistake and  _ I  _ have to be the one locked up? What gives Tony that right? What gives Vision that right? Isn’t he supposed to be on my side? Steve wouldn’t allow this! Ste- _

Wanda stopped her pacing and stood still in the middle of her room. 

_ Steve _ .

Wanda sent her powers through every inch of the building looking for the only person she trusted, the only one she knew would be on her side. She felt panic rise inside her when she couldn’t find him.

_ No, he wouldn’t leave me here like this. He’ll come for me, _ she thought as her powers came back to here sans Steve. Even searching outside the building, she couldn’t pick up on his mind. 

_ How long has he even been gone? _ she asked herself. 

She didn’t know how long it was since the discussion with the team. Hell, she didn’t even know how long ago she had talked with Vision, and she was pretty sure that had been fairly recent. 

“Dammit!” she cursed, throwing a ball of power at her pillow. She watched with mild amusement as it blew up and threw feathers everywhere. With a wave of her hand they collected at the corner of her room and she sat down in the middle of her bed. 

Not even a minute passed before she realized she didn’t want to be in her room, so she walked out to the living room. 

“Wanda,” Vision called from the kitchen, still attempting to save his failed paprikash. 

“Please don’t,” she said before sitting down on the floor and closing her eyes. 

“Meditation had been known to-”

Wanda opened her eyes, letting her anger turn them red and glared at the synthetic man.

“Vision, just stop. Right now I don’t want to hear it.” 

His silence was welcome as she closed her eyes again and focused on her powers. She felt it caressing her mind, dancing along her fingers, and beating in time with her heart.

_ I wonder if I could use it on myself. _

Not seeing why she couldn’t try since she was being held hostage by her boyfriend, Wanda cleared her mind and called her powers to her. 

She visualized walking into her own mind, which was ridiculously spacious for a mind. However, Wanda kept walking around until she came to a door. It looked much like the room doors back at HYDRA and she hesitantly placed her hand on the doorknob. 

She could feel a thumping on the wall which reminded her of the times she’d feel a pulse at the base of her brain. The feel of it was the same and she opened the door to see swirling red fill the room. 

Feeling her powers call for her, she reached out with a hand to caress the thing that had become a part of her. A red tendril climbed up her arm and she was taken to a different place.

Wanda saw herself in a room, much like the training room in the Avenger’s base. She could see the frustration in herself and winced as her other self kicked a chair. 

She was surprised to see the shock on her face as her powers reached out to keep the chair from falling.

_ Why am I so surprised? I’ve always known I could do that. It was the first thing I learned with Dr. List.  _

_ And what is this? Is it a memory? _ she asked herself. The humming of her powers confirmed her thoughts. 

Wanda continued watching herself.

She cringed when the chair fell, and she laughed as she saw her memory self stand so uncomfortably with her hands out. 

Her own powers danced around her as she watched the memory Wanda finally get the red to take hold of the chair again. 

“The first time we officially met,” Wanda muttered to herself. She felt the red seep into her and warmth spread across her chest as if it were giving her a hug. She shifted uncomfortably and turned her head as the door in her memory began to open. She saw a flash of something metallic before she was ripped out of her own mind.

Wanda opened her eyes and saw Vision hovering in a corner at the opposite side of the room. Standing up, she turned her head to where she heard the noise that drew her out of the memory. She quickly walked to the window and Vision came up beside her. 

“What is it?” she asked once she got over the shock of seeing it was night time already. 

“Stay here, please,” was all he said as he flew through the wall to see what caused the explosion. 

She felt her powers rise like the hair on her arms and she quickly used them to call a knife to her aid, throwing it at the intruder who snuck their way into the room with her. She stopped it right before the knife struck. 

“Guess I should knocked,” came the smart reply from an amused Clint as he tipped the knife away from him. 

“Oh my god,” Wanda breathed out, realizing that she could have killed him. “What are you doing here?”

“Disappointing my kids,” he said as she walked over to him. 

He then took out an arrow and shot it at the wall before turning to the other side and shooting another one at the kitchen island. 

“I’m supposed to go waterskiing. Cap needs our help. Come on,” he said, taking her arm and dragging her with him as he walked towards the door. 

_ Cap! Steve, _ she thought. 

“Clint!,” Vision called out from behind them. They stilled. 

“You should not be here.”

Clint let go of Wanda’s hand and turned to face Vision. She followed his lead.

“Really?” he said. “I retire for, what, like five minutes, and it all goes to shit.”

Wanda wanted to smile at the archer.

“Please consider the consequences of your actions,” Vision said as he floated closer to them.

Wanda saw Clint look at his arrows.

“Okay, they’re considered,” he said right as his arrows made a force field around Vision, effectively holding him in place. 

“Okay, we gotta go,” he muttered into Wanda’s ear and took off running.

Wanda turned to look at his retreating back.

_ It’s your fault. _

_ Sokovia. _

_ Your fault. _

_ Lagos. _

_ Yourfaultyourfaultyourfault. _

He turned when he realized she wasn’t following him.

“It’s this way,” he said, pointing to the door.

Wanda hesitated.

“I’ve caused enough problems,” she said, looking down at the sleeves her hands were fidgeting with. 

She looked up when she heard him jog back. He stopped right in front of her. 

“You gotta help me, Wanda,” he said. “Look, you wanna mope, you can go to high school. You wanna make amends, you get off your ass.”

Wanda opened her mouth to argue back but he wasn’t paying her attention anymore. 

“Shit.”

She heard Vision break out of his holds using the stone and Clint brushed her out of the way.

Wanda stood awkwardly as she watched Vision and Clint fight. She knew Clint had no chance at winning against Vision and she flinched when her boyfriend held Clint in a headlock.

Wanda knew her anxiousness was showing but she didn’t care. She had to make a decision.

“Clint, you can’t overpower me,” Vision said, holding a struggling Hawkeye.

“I know I can’t,” Clint answered. 

His green eyes landed on Wanda. 

“But she can,” he said with all the confidence she was lacking.

Wanda glanced down to see her powers had come to her without her knowing. Allowing it to gather in a small ball between her hands, Wanda walked forward to face Vision. 

She saw his eyes grow in fear.

“Vision, that’s enough. Let him go,” she said. “I’m leaving.”

His eyes sharpened and he stood firmly against her with Clint still in his arms.

“I can’t let you,” he stated.

_ Well, I wasn’t asking for permission, _ she thought to herself. 

Wanda pulled her hands apart and felt herself connect to the stone. She allowed Clint to slip through Vision’s hands.

“I’m sorry,” she said, though she didn’t know who she was apologizing to. To Clint for letting him fall to the floor, or Vision for using the stone against him. 

She tried pushing Vision to the floor but he fought back.

“If you do this,” he said with a pause. The floor cracked under him. “They will never stop being afraid of you.”

Wanda let the anger wash over her until she could barely restrain it. 

“I can’t control their fear,” she said as she used more force to push him down. “Only my own.”

She walked closer to him and looked into his eyes for a second.

_ We’re done, _ she thought at him before sending him crashing through multiple floors and deep into the earth. 

Wanda was out of breath when she finally let go of him. She barely noticed Clint standing next to her, looking down at the mess she’d caused with Vision. 

“Oh…” he said.

She turned to look at him and he glanced at her. 

“Come on, we got one more stop.”

He walked away and Wanda glanced down one more time before leaving Vision and the tower behind her. 

X_X_X

“Who are we going for?” Wanda asked the archer. 

She was sitting in a white van as Clint drove to pick up another person that was supposed to help them. 

“Scott Lang, I think. That’s what Sam said anyway. Apparently the guy is good.”

“Have you met him?” she asked.

Clint shook his head.

“So why are we trusting him, then?” she questioned.

“Because we don’t have much of a choice now, do we?” he shot back.

Wanda looked out the window and watched the passing cars.

“What’s up with you? You look like shit,” he said from beside her. 

Wanda pursed her lips together in a forced smile. 

“Thanks,” she said sarcastically. 

“I mean it, kid. You look like you haven’t slept in days.”

Wanda shrugged. 

“Alright, you know what? Use this time to sleep. I’ll get the guy and take us to Cap. You rest up so you don’t look like death when we get there,” he said.

Wanda smiled at the older man and was glad he was still with them. His paternal instincts shone through the Hawkeye persona and she knew his kids would gain a lot from his lectures and caring nature. 

She sent up a thank you to Pietro before closing her eyes. 

Just like before, Wanda let the red wrap around her and pull her into the room hidden within her mind. 

She stood on a moving train and looked around to see herself standing with someone else, looking down the side of the train. 

Walking closer, Wanda recognized the man as the Winter Soldier, the man she was supposed to help Steve find. Looking down, she saw him again, only she knew this was Bucky before all the shit HYDRA did to him. 

_ Am I… Am I watching his memories? _

She felt a cooling sensation at the back of her head and knew she was right in her assumptions. 

She watched in horror as he fell from the train and followed her other self along with the Soldier to where Bucky fell. She knew this. She’d seen this all in her dream and even told Steve about it, thinking that it was her overactive imagination filling in the gaps from his file.

Red covered her vision and she was standing behind herself and her brother in a training room. She saw men walk in and she remembered that this was when she first met Alexander and the Soldier. 

_ Alexander, _ she thought bitterly, somehow knowing he meant trouble. 

Her vision swam again and she was in an office with him. They were talking about missions and she knew Pietro had just left on his first mission with someone. But who. 

_ Rumlow _ , came a whisper to her mind and everything clicked. She remembered this too, she remembered being taken to a room and… and…

_ That bastard! _ she thought, tears streaming down her face as she watched herself be rid of her memories. 

Suddenly the scene was cleared of all the people in it and it was just the chair in the middle of the room.

_ The Blender, _ she thought humorlessly. 

Her powers began to swirl in the chair, taking form of a person. It was only a silhouette but she could still tell it was a person. It laid back and the arms above the chair lowered.

Wanda remembered what the chair did, but she  _ knew _ that if she sat there, she’d know everything about herself. 

Her powers were urging her to sit, the silhouette sitting with its arms wide open.

_ Powers… _ she thought, suddenly disliking the taste it left in her mouth. 

_ It’s more like… Magic. _

An excited hum filled her and she knew she was right. 

What Pietro had were powers, what she had was magic.

And she trusted it without a doubt.

Wanda walked to the chair and sat down. Her  _ magic _ embraced her as the arms lowered and when the cold arms grasped her head everything came rushing back.

X_X_X

“Oh my god,” Wanda said with a sob.

Clint nearly drove off the road in surprise. One second she was sleeping semi-peacefully and the next she was up with a cry.

“Wanda, what’s wrong?” he asked, glancing at the girl beside him. She had tears in her eyes and looked much paler than when they first started the drive. 

“ _ Oh my god _ ,” she repeated in a whisper.

_ Pietro and I were with HYDRA longer than we thought. _

_ We fought for them, killed for them.  _

_ We met the Winter Soldier.  _ I  _ dated the Winter Soldier. Not just once, but twice.  _

_ We were wiped of our memories for my foolishness. Our memories were taken from us  _ twice _ just because I decided to go ahead and fall in love with a broken man.  _

_ I’m so sorry Pietro. Please forgive me, brother. I’m- _

_ Oh my god, _ Wanda thought with discomfort.  _ Nat and I dated the same man. We loved the same man.  _

“Wanda?”

_ Shit! What am I supposed to do now? We’re driving to where they are. We’re gonna face each other and what if he doesn’t remember me? What if he does?  _

_ Holy shit, this is more awkward than the fight we’re getting into.  _

“Wanda!” Clint whisper-yelled, glancing cautiously in the back seat. Wanda briefly noticed a man sleeping back there. 

“What, Clint?” she asked, irritated at having her freak out interrupted. 

“What’s wrong?” he demanded.

Wanda opened her mouth to tell him but then realized it wouldn’t make much sense. Not without telling him everything and that would take a long time. Much longer than what they had. 

“I just… I just realized that Steve found Bucky. We won’t need to go Bucky hunting anymore,” she improvised. 

From the side glance Clint threw her way she knew he didn’t believe her.

She decided it was time for waterworks.

“What if he doesn’t want me around anymore? His friend is more important to him than a moody orphan,” she said, choking up on tears she didn’t think were fake anymore. 

“Clint, I’m no good for the team. What if he realizes this? I’m just one problem after another. I don’t deserve to be an Avenger, I don’t-” she broke off as she felt herself begin to hyperventilate. 

“Wanda, hey, Wanda,” Clint said, reaching over and grasping her hand in his. “Stop that. You  _ are _ an Avenger because you  _ deserve  _ to be one. You’ve proved yourself to the team. And sure, you’ve messed up lately, but all of us have been there before, trust me.”

She looked over at him and he turned briefly to smile at her.

“I know you and the Cap have gotten close, Nat told me many times. You know,” he said with a chuckle. “She even started getting jealous.”

“What?” she asked in disbelief. 

Nat and the Cap?

That… that actually made a lot of sense. 

“Shit,” he cursed. “Pretend you didn’t hear that, Nat would kill us both if she found out you knew.”

Wanda turned to grin at him and when he didn’t get a response, he turned to face her. His own smile formed when he saw her overjoyed expression.

“Anyway, as I was saying, you and the Cap are close. He wouldn’t leave you behind, not even for Bucky,” he said. 

Wanda felt more at ease and took a deep breath.

“Thank you,” she told him.

His eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled.

“No problem, kid.”

She saw him turn into an airport.

“Now, get ready because we’re here,” he said. His earlier joy smothered by the headache that lay ahead of them.

X_X_X

Wanda’s face twisted into confusion as she saw a tiny blue car with three hunched figures drive into the parking lot.

“Is that them?” she asked Clint.

His answering laugh made her smile.

“Man, he really does suck at this,” he said.

The car pulled up next to them and Wanda forced herself to look ahead.

Her heart was beating as fast as a hummingbird’s wings and her hands shook with nerves. 

“You okay?” Clint asked, eyeing her hands.

“Yeah, I’m good. Just a bit nervous about all that’s about to happen,” she answered. 

“Yeah, well, it is what it is,” he said, opening his door and getting out. 

Wanda took in a deep breath and kept her eyes to the floor as she got out. 

Whatever she did, she would not look at  _ him. _

“Cap,” she heard Clint say in greeting.

“You know I wouldn’t have called if I had any other choice,” she heard Steve answer.

She looked up, her eyes strictly on the archer. 

“Hey man,” Clint started, “You’re doing me a favor. Besides,” he said glancing back at her, “I owe a debt.”

Wanda glanced down and felt Steve’s gaze on her. She looked up and he nodded at her. 

“Thanks for having my back,” he told her. 

Her fears and frustrations at being left behind were eating at her but she tilted her head in an indifferent shrug.

“It was time to get off my ass,” she repeated the words Clint had used against her. The archer turned to look at her with amusement in his eyes.

“How about our other recruit?” Steve interrupted.

“He’s rarin’ to go,” Clint said walking over to the van.

Wanda crossed her arms and risked a glance at the dark haired man standing on the other side of the car. He was looking away from the small reunion.

“Had to put a little coffee in him, but,” she heard Clint continue. She looked over at the man sleeping in the back who jolted awake when the door was snapped open. 

“He should be good to go,” Clint finished.

“What timezone is this?” the man asked, slowly getting out of the car.

“Come on. Come on,” Clint said, slightly pushing him in Cap’s direction. 

Wanda moved so she was out of their way and stood next to Clint. 

She watched as Scott and Steve shook hands.

“Captain America,” he said,  _ still  _ shaking Steve’s hand. Wanda’s heart warmed at the admiration in his voice.

“Mr. Lang,” Steve greeted.

“It’s an honor,” Scott said. “I’m shaking your hand too long,” he stated. 

Wanda watched as Steve nodded his head in agreement. She struggled to contain her smile.

“Wow! This is awesome!” Scott said in disbelief.

He turned to her and she offered a polite smile. 

“Captain America,” he pointed out, obviously still not believing that they’d met. Wanda’s smile became a little more genuine. 

Scott did a double take when he saw her. 

“I know you, too. You’re great!” he said as he turned back to Steve. 

Wanda’s small smile turned into a grin as she watched the starstruck man. She bit back a laugh as he grabbed Steve’s arms, clearly feeling the muscles there.

“Jeez,” he said in admiration before taking his hands off of Steve. “Ah, look, I wanna say, I know you know a lot of super people so… Thinks for thanking of me.”

Wanda bit back her smile at his mix up. She was starting to like this guy.

“Hey man!” Scott said, pointing at Sam.

“What’s up, Tic Tac?” he replied.

“Uh, good to see you. Look, about what happened last time when I-”

Sam interrupted him.

“It was a great audition but it’ll…” Sam chuckled. “It’ll never happen again.”

Wanda looked over at the Soldier again and quickly glanced away as their eyes met.

“They tell you what we’re up against?” Steve asked, dragging her attention to him. 

“Something about some… psycho-assassins?” Scott asked.

_ Yeah? Which side are we talking about here? _ Wanda thought dryly. 

“We’re outside the law on this one,” Steve informed him. “So, if you come with us, you’re a wanted man.”

“Yeah, well, what else is new?” Scott replied, sounding oddly somber. 

“We should get moving,” Steve’s friend said. 

_ The Soldier. No, Bucky,  _ Wanda argued with herself. She didn’t know what to call him anymore. 

“We got a chopper lined up,” Clint said.

A man’s voice spoke around the airport.

“They’re evacuating the airport,” the Soldier/Bucky said.

“Stark,” Sam supplied.

“Stark?” asked Scott.

Glancing at Steve she straightened up and waited for his command.

“Suit up,” the Captain said.


	18. Under Arrest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Here’s a surprise weekend chapter because I was too excited to wait for Monday. Also, I’m not 100% sure if I’m going to update on Monday because my class runs late into the evening.   
> ALSO, I need to give a WARNING that this chapter gets pretty dark near the end. There’s suicidal ideation and sexual assault and our main character is left having to deal with that. So please, read with caution or skip if you don’t want to read it. I’ll mark the beginning with W_A_R_N_I_N_G so you can be aware. I’ll also mark the end so you can jump back in.  
> Like always, I own nothing.

Wanda grabbed her duffle bag and walked over to hide behind some pillar in the parking lot. 

_ Men, _ she thought.  _ They get to change wherever they want because they’re surrounded by other men. But if I so much as remove my sweater it’s a big scandal. _

Wanda was still annoyed at how Steve freaked out when Wanda began removing her sweater, saying that she needed to preserve her modesty. 

She had taken her bag and marched away, only managing to catch sight of Clint’s amused wink.

_ Of course he’d find it amusing. _

Wanda quickly stripped out of her dress and rushed to put on the outfit Nat had ordered for her. It was slightly more flexible but still showed too much cleavage for her taste.

“Gloves, gloves,” Wanda muttered to herself, looking through her duffle bag. 

“Where are my gloves?” she asked herself, glancing at the space around her in case she dropped them.

“Looking for these?” a voice called out a few feet away. She tilted her head in confusion when she saw a hand holding out her gloves from behind a pillar.

“Yes, I was, actually,” she called out. She picked up her bag and walked over to the man. Each step was filled with dread and excitement.

“Thank you, Sergeant Barnes,” she said, poking her head around the pillar.

The tips of his ears turned red, but he handed her the gloves.

“Steve saw them in the van. He was going to return them himself but his suit takes a while to put on,” he informed her.

Blue met blue and she offered him a thankful smile.

“It’s funny,” she said, slipping her gloves on. “You’d think we’d have a better method of changing but we still have to strip our civilian clothes to put on the fancier looking stuff.” 

He huffed. 

“Well, I can’t complain too much. All I had to do was change my shirt to a vest,” he said.

Wanda bit back a smile.

She looked ahead as they walked, not daring to glance at the man beside her. She felt lost and a part of her wished she could’ve talked to Steve first.

“Wanda?” the man next to her asked, gently touching her arm.

She stopped and turned to look at him.

His eyes were troubled and she could see all the pain of a thousand tortured souls in them.

“Yes, Sergeant Barnes?” she asked politely. 

He flinched at her tone.

“I know you,” he said.

Wanda’s heartbeat picked up double it’s previous rate.

“Yes, well, I have been on the TV a lot lately,” she said, feigning ignorance.

“No,” he said. “I know you from before today. You were with HYDRA.”

Wanda pursed her lips.

“It’s common knowledge I came from HYDRA, and everyone knows you were tortured by them,” she said.

_ Why are you doing this, _ she scolded herself. She shouldn’t be pushing him away.

“Please, don’t. I remember training you, I remember training your brother,” he said with a pause at the end. “I’m sorry about what happened to him. Steve told me you lost him in Sokovia.”

Wanda’s eyes stung and she blinked away the moisture.

“I remember you, Wanda,” he continued. 

“Little Witch,” he said, looking intensely into her eyes.

Wanda’s breath caught in her throat and all the memories whirled in her head. 

“I remember you, too, Soldier,” she whispered.

Relief flooded his eyes and she felt her own express the same.

“Buck, did you find Wanda?” they heard Steve ask from a distance. They put more space between them and walked a few steps more so they were in Steve’s sight.

Wanda’s smile was tense as he walked closer.

“Wanda,” he said, pulling her into a hug when he reached her. She felt her eyes water.

“Wanda, I’m so sorry for leaving like that,” Steve said. Bucky watched the two with interest.

“I thought you left me behind,” she said in a raspy voice.

He pulled back and wiped the tears that had managed to fall. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that. But one thing happened right after the other and I couldn’t go back. Especially after the accords,” he said. 

Wanda hugged him again and welcomed the warmth his arms offered.

“Promise you’ll never leave me behind like that again,” she said.

Wanda felt his head nod. 

“Promise, Wanda,” Steve said. 

They pulled back to see Bucky awkwardly looking away.

“Hey, Buck, I want you to officially meet Wanda,” he said, leaving one arm around her shoulders.

“Wanda, this is Bucky,” he said, nodding towards the Soldier.

“Hi,” they both said awkwardly.

Steve looked at them with curiosity.

Wanda picked up on his train of thought and interrupted him before he had the chance to ask what was wrong.

“So, what’s the plan, Cap?” she asked.

“I want you to stay with Clint while I distract Tony and Rhodey. Our goal is to get to the jet, so we’ll have to help each other out. I’m pretty sure Nat and the Wakandan king are somewhere out there. Make sure they don’t hurt anyone,” Steve said, letting go of her shoulders and standing up straight. She knew he meant to keep Bucky safe from the king who wanted him dead. 

They joined the rest of the group and went over the plan one more time. 

Something at the back of her mind was telling her to run, that no good would come out of this. She looked at Steve but he was too busy reviewing the plan of attack with Sam. 

When she glanced at Bucky his eyes were on her. She could see the same apprehension in his eyes. 

“You ready to go?” Clint asked from beside her. She looked at the men in front of her and she was filled with pride at being part of a close-knit group of friends. She’d do anything for them.

“Yeah, let’s go kick ass,” Wanda said with a smirk. 

X_X_X

_ Rhodey. _

All Wanda could think of, all she could see was her friend falling from the sky. Her heart contracted as she heard the sound of him hitting the earth, even being as far away as she was. 

“Wanda,” Vision said from her side. She was still in his arms and she scrambled to get away but his hold tightened. 

_ You did this to him, _ she accused in her mind.

She must have thought it loud enough because he flinched. Still, his hold didn’t falter.

“Let me go,” she said aloud, struggling to get out of his grasp. 

“I can’t,” he said, helping her stand up all while still keeping his hands on her. 

“Wanda Maximoff,” he said in a grave voice. “You’re under arrest by the order of the United Nations.”

Wanda felt her anger rise but then she deflated. She knew this would happen and she willingly stayed back to let Steve and Bucky escape. 

“Wanda”, Clint said, running up to her. At that moment, police officers and ambulances filled the parking lot. Everything happened so quickly that she could barely keep up with who was holding her, who was talking to her. 

Her fear kept her magic at her fingertips, occasionally zapping at any officer who got too close. She only calmed down when she saw Tony and Nat among the crowd. They were her friends, her fellow Avengers- they would make sure nothing bad happened to her.

“Tony,” she called out, wanting to ask about Rhodey, but he rushed away, following a doctor who was most likely giving him information on his friend’s current health.

“In you go, Witch,” the guard holding her said, forcefully shoving her into a room with nothing but a chair. She noticed the straps right away.

“Why am I here?” she turned to the guard but instead there was a doctor there with something in his hands.She took notice of the lab assistants behind him.

“Excuse me, but I’m going to need to put this on you,” he said, approaching her. The assistants walked around him to stand behind her. 

Wanda glanced at the object and felt hatred brew inside her. In his hands was a collar, a collar that looked so much like the one used on her in HYDRA to keep her from using her powers.

“No,” Wanda said, shaking her head. Her hands moved of their own accord and her magic rushed to her fingers ready to protect her. 

A pinching at the side of her neck had her reaching up in confusion. Turning around, she saw one of the assistants with a syringe in her hand, pulling back in fear. 

Wanda instantly felt the effects as she felt her legs growing weaker. She tried calling her magic to her again but under the influence of drugs, all they could manage was as light haze of red around her hands. 

“What have you done to me?” she asked.

Her legs gave out and she fell into the chair. The other assistant pulled out a blue cloth from nowhere, it seemed. He came and put her arms through some sleeves before wrapping it behind her. He fastened some belts in front of her and finally her mind offered an explanation. 

A straightjacket. 

She felt indignation burn in her veins but she realized she couldn’t use her hands to control her powers. 

However, she knew what she was capable of and she felt her eyesight sharpen. She took in every single detail in the room and when she saw her reflection in the doctor’s eyes, her own were glowing red. 

“Don’t look into her eyes,” the doctor told the assistants, closing his own eyes. 

Wanda smirked and allowed her mind to open up and reach out to him. A slap across her face broke her concentration and she turned her attention to the one who had given her the drugs. She closed her eyes in an instant as Wanda looked at her.

Like a snake, her mind shot out and grasped the woman’s own. She urged the woman to fight against the other men, to free Wanda from her restraints. 

The woman turned to the other assistant with her own red glowing eyes and the man took a step back.

In her own distraction, Wanda didn’t notice the doctor creep up until it was too late.

The collar slid onto her neck with a spark and when the doctor clipped it at the back, Wanda felt fire electrifying her from within. 

“No more tricks from you, Witch,” the doctor said with a smirk and the assistants rushed out of the room with a fearful glance at her. 

Wanda wanted to bite back, to show them that she wouldn’t be tamed so easily, but the shock kept coursing through her every few seconds.

“You see, we have your file from when Shield and HYDRA files were released to the public. Your powers are a part of you. It courses through your veins, fills your every breath,” the doctor said smugly. “The collar is based on Dr. List’s own creation, except we tweaked it so it would shock you when it sensed your powers.”

He bent down to her eye level. 

“If you so much as breathe a little too hard, it’ll pick up the scent of your powers and shock you. You understand?” 

Wanda glared at the man and spit in his face. 

The shock was instantaneous and she ground her teeth in pain.

The doctor wiped his face and sneered at her before turning to leave the room.

“You can take her,” he said to the guards standing by the door.

X_X_X

“Wanda?” she heard Clint call out from his cell.

Wanda turned to look but the guards surrounding her only rushed forward and pushed her into her cell.

“Clint?” she yelled out, only to flinch at another shock.

“Wanda, are you okay?” he yelled back.

She swallowed and the guards at her cell door only smirked before walking away.

“I’m fine,” she yelled back, this time prepared for the inevitable shock.

“I was so worried. Sam, Scott and I didn’t see you when they brought us to the cells,” he called out.

“Yeah, kid, we tried asking for you but nobody gave us answers. Where did they take you?” Sam asked, sounding closer that Clint. 

Wanda closed her eyes and gently took in a deep breath. She felt the collar vibrate as it sensed her longer than normal breath.

“I asked to use the restroom after changing,” she lied, her words breaking as the collar sent another painful shock through her body.

“Bullshit,” Clint called out, able to pick out her lie.

“Wanda, are you sure you’re okay?” Scott called out gently. 

Silent tears fell down her face and she realized she wouldn’t be able to talk to them like she’d wanted to.

“I’m tired,” she called out a bit softer than before. It didn’t keep the collar from shocking her, but she sensed a shift in the room.

“Okay, kid, get some rest,” Clint said.

“It’s the best way to pass the time in here,” Scott said.

Wanda turned her back to the gate and slid down, closing her eyes and trying not to think about how horribly the day had gone.

X_X_X

“Get up, Witch,” one of the guards whispered harshly, opening her gate door and pushing her back in deeper.

Wanda silently scooted back until she hit the wall. 

“Not so feisty now, huh?” another guard said, standing behind the first one.

The gate closed and she gulped in fear as the two came closer. 

“Guess all the Bitch needed was her collar to keep her happy,” the first one said. They laughed and she felt tears sting her eyes. 

“Fuck you,” she said, groaning when the collar released more electricity to her body.

“Oh, look. She thinks she’s the shit,” the second one mocked. “Well fuck you, too. We’re not afraid of you. In here, it’s you who should be afraid of us,” he said, pulling her hair back to make her look at him. 

Wanda shut her eyes and refused to give in to him. She felt him pull her hair more before throwing her on the floor, causing her head to bounce back from the concrete floor harshly.

“Ah!” she exclaimed and shut up again as her body froze in pain.

“Look at her,” one of the guards laughed.

“Pathetic,” they said before she heard them walk out.

Wanda opened her eyes and saw their retreating feet through blurry vision. 

She struggled to sit up and when she managed, she was blinded by the tears continuously pouring from her eyes.

X_X_X

Wanda was pretty sure she’d been locked in here for ages as she stared at the wall with her back to the gate.

She was sure everyone around her had abandoned her and she would be stuck in this cell for the rest of her life as she suffered for her crimes. 

_ Sokovia. _

_ Lagos. _

_ Your fault. _

_ You deserve this, it was your fault. Deal with it, others had it worse.  _

_ Lagos. _

_ Sokovia. _

_ You deserve this and more. _

The words ran in circles in her mind until they blended into one another and all she could think and feel and believe was the self-hatred she had towards herself, towards her magic. 

It was the cause of her problems and if she had just died in the explosion none of them would be in this place.

_ You deserve this. _

Wanda noticed the doors open and she caught sight of Tony walking into the room. He glanced in her direction briefly before walking to a different cell.

_ This wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for you. _

She knew she couldn’t have been in here for long if Tony was still in the same suit as earlier that day.

She sighed as she realized she was torturing herself in her own mind and if she could only focus on what was around her, she’d be a little more sane.

She heard him talking to Clint, pass by Scott, and stop to discuss something with Sam. 

Wanda waited for the man to come to her, to see how broken she was and demand better treatment for her, but that moment never came. She watched with betrayal as he walked out of the room. 

A few moments passe and the door opened again. Wanda saw someone walking around the cells and delivering trays to them. She watched at the lady walked closer and recognized her as the lab assistant from earlier.

“Enjoy your dinner,” she said, opening the gate and throwing Wanda’s tray on the floor. Food splattered all over the room. 

“Bitch,” the woman muttered under the breath as she left.

Wanda looked down at the junk they called food in disgust. It was the first of many meals she would reject. 

X_X_X

Wanda woke up to her full bladder asking to be relieved. She’d been holding it in for the past hours she had been locked up, but she knew this was urgent now. 

“Excuse me?” she called out, hoping not to wake up the others locked up with her. Her throat closed up at the shock she’d forgotten to expect.

A guard walked over and glared at her.

“What do you want?” he asked.

Wanda swallowed.

“Restroom,” she choked out.

He raised an eyebrow. 

“You don’t get special treatment just for being a woman,” he said. “There’s a toilet in your cell. Use it.”

Wanda struggled in the jacket, pointing out her lack of hands. The guard sneered and walked away.

She sat down on the floor and closed her eyes in humiliation. She didn’t know how long she would be able to hold it. However, she moved to the toilet just in case she lost control over her bladder. There was no need for her to make a mess. 

She nodded off but was brought back to herself when she felt her bladder burst. Tears ran down her face in shame as her pants became moist with her urine. When she was done, she gingerly stood up and sat on the ground right next to the gate. She gazed out and pretended not to notice how her pants were becoming crusty as they dried. 

Having no other choice, Wanda fell asleep once more. 

She woke with a start when she felt ice cold water hit her face.

“Disgusting, I can’t believe we have to clean you up,” someone said. She glanced up to see a different guard holding an empty bucket. 

“HEY! What are you doing to her? You leave her alone!” she hear Clint’s yells.

Laughter rang around the room. 

“Look, the little Bitch has a guard dog. You been fucking him? Huh? Is that it?” the guard demanded, pulling her up by her hair.

“Ah!” she yelled, regretting it when the shock came but stronger this time.

“Wanda?” She hears Sam call out from somewhere.

“Look what I found,” someone else said, walking into her cell. 

Wanda glanced at the guard from the previous day and saw him holding a small remote. She felt dread grow in the pit of her stomach.

“What’s it do?” the one holding her hair asked. 

The other one turned a dial and pressed a button. Wanda yelled in pain as the collar responded to the control. 

She heard yelling and banging on metal bars but her attention couldn’t focus on her teammates trying to fight for her from their own cells.

“Well, now, I heard using a shock collar can be fun,” the first guard said, grinning down at her. 

Wanda’s eyes grew in fear as she heard his underlying words. 

**W_A_R_N_I_N_G**

“Let’s give it a try,” the other one said, looking at the camera and doing a cutting motion. 

Wanda felt her breath quicken and the collar shocked her again.

“Look, she can’t wait to get started,” they mocked. 

Suddenly, one of them reached forward and grabbed her down  _ there. _

“No!” she yelled, clenching her teeth against the shock. She pulled away as far as she could.

“We’ll see about that. Here you belong to us, so do as we say, and you’ll live to see another day,” the one with the remote said and turned the dial again before pressing the button.

Wanda screamed as her blood felt like poison and her bones felt like broken glass. 

“Let’s try this again,” the first guard said, pulling her forward as he spun her and her back was against his chest.

“Isn’t this much better?” he asked, as a hand groped her chest. Wanda struggled as tears streamed down her face. 

“There, there, just let me do everything, you relax,” he whispered in her ear before kissing her neck. A hand slowly slipped down her stomach and played with the elastic on her pants. 

Wanda’s breathing came out in choked sobs as the collar continued to shock her. Her muscles spasmed and her own fingers twitched as his hand slipped past and cupped her sex.

Hatred for herself and for every damn person in the facility boiled under her skin. When his finger moved her underwear to the side, she felt everything explode within her. 

**W_A_R_N_I_N_G_D_O_N_E**

The force of it escaped her body and slammed the men against the walls. Fury shone in her eyes and the men hastily got up, trying to escape. With her mind, she created a force field so they were unable to leave. The continuous shock of the collar boiled down to nothing at that point as her anger overpowered everything else in her mind. 

“Stop!” the guard with the remote yelled and Wanda’s fingers twitched, her magic returning to them. She struck out and the coward hid behind the guard who had touched her. 

She wrapped the magic around him, lifting him off the ground. He screamed for help and she sensed an army of men running down to the cells. The other guard dropped the remote and she pushed it away from him with a flick of her head. 

She turned her attention to the sobbing man begging her to release him. She let her magic pour into his body until he was glowing red.

The door to the cells burst open with armed men all pointing guns at her and with a ‘pop’ the room was covered in blood and flesh. 

Some of the men threw up and others yelled at her to get down.

Wanda turned her attention to them but stopped as she heard scuttering behind her. Turning, she saw the other guard holding the remote again. Turning the dial to all that it could go to, he held down the button to send the shock at her. 

Wanda fell to the floor with a scream as she felt the collar burn her throat. She choked on her own blood as her scream tore something inside her and she fell to the floor almost lifelessly. 

All she could do was stare at the ceiling as someone dragged her away from the cell. The yells of her teammates muted under the sound of shoes stepping on flesh. 


	19. Rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, here’s another chapter. I couldn’t end it on something so horrible and then have you wait for the next part. I know that would crush me as a reader, so here’s something with more Steve/Wanda and Bucky/Wanda moments. I hope you enjoy!  
> (I don’t own anything.)

_You deserve this._

_Monster._

_Murderer._

_You’ve been touched by evil._

A scream ripped out of Wanda’s lips, as soundless and painful as the previous ones.

She couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat. Not that they were giving her food. She had been thrown into maximum security after killing that man and she was to be left alone to die.

She had caved in and begged for water only to realize that her voice was gone from screaming so much. From the burn the collar left on her.

Staring at her distorted reflection from the metal walls, she faintly saw the angry red skin poking out from under the collar and for one wild second she was sad that she’d be left with an ugly scar.

She sat for who knows how long just staring at the metal door with a tiny window. She was pretty sure it was so people would notice if she died. Although, no one ever came around to check on her, so she could die and her body wouldn’t be found until they needed her room.

There was commotion outside the door and Wanda faintly recognized the sound of bodies hitting the floor. The door swung open and she was staring at a pair of old chuck taylors.

“Wanda?” she heard someone say. Their voice was somewhat familiar.

“Oh, Wanda, sweetheart. I’m so sorry,” the voice said again. She heard shifting and suddenly she was staring into clear blue eyes. She tried to remember where she knew them from but nothing came to mind. She did, however, notice how nicely the blue blended in with the green flecks in the orbs.

A hand brushed her hair back and she closed her eyes. That had felt good.

“Let’s get you out of here,” the voice said and she felt arms wrap around her back and behind her knees. She opened her eyes and saw everything rise as she was lifted up. Part of her told her to fight but her body hummed with recognition. She would trust that feeling and leaned her head against something. From the uncomfortable jolt with every step, she assumed it was a shoulder her head rested on.

“Is she okay?” she heard someone else ask. That voice also seemed familiar.

“I don’t know, she’s not talking. Let’s get her to the jet and back to safe territory. Maybe she’ll open up then,” the first voice said, the one with the blue-green eyes.

There were shouts and sirens and gunshots.

Wanda didn’t bother to look around her, figuring that if she were to die, she’d rather not see it coming.

Suddenly the person holding her was running and the noises were left behind.

“Come on, hurry. It won’t be long now until they figure out where we went,” someone said. Her head was beginning to hurt from so many unknown but recognized voices.

“Is that everybody?”

“Yes, your majesty, we’re ready to go.”

“Okoye, take us home.”

She felt movement and she was sat down on something.

“Wanda, can you hear me?” Blue-green-eyes asked. The person was kneeling in front of her so they were on the same eye level.

She wanted to ask who they was, what they wanted from her, but all her throat could manage was a dry gulp.

That seemed to mean something, because suddenly there was cursing and threats and someone was going to kill Tony.

That name rang a bell.

Out of nowhere she felt hands at her throat and panic flashed across her face before going blank again. If they were to kill her then she’d welcome it.

Wanda closed her eyes and waiting for the snapping.

While there _was_ snapping, it wasn’t what she was expecting. When her eyes opened, she saw the collar that had previously been on her neck being held by pale peach hands. They were clenched around the device and she could hear the crunching as they broke it further.

Then she felt hands flutter down her chest and stomach and suddenly her arms were falling down into her lap.

Wanda stared down at her hands numbly. She saw her fingers twitch and she was thrown back with a gasp as _something_ came rushing back to her, developing her senses and merging with her every cell.

“Wanda,” the voice said again, relief evident in their voice.

She felt something swirl around her head, touching every corner of her mind as it brought back puzzle pieces and placed them together in her head.

Wanda heaved as voices took names and memories were placed with times.

She looked up and saw Steve looking at her with regret and sorrow. Over his shoulder stood Sam.

Her mind froze for a moment, overwhelmed with all of the information being thrown at it.

“Where-” she tried to say but the only sound she made was an awful gurgling.

Steve handed her a glass of water and she took it, taking a small sip. Pain coursed through her as the water touched her raw throat.

“Talk to me,” Steve said, taking her hand and touching it to his head.

Wanda stared at it confused before red started to form around her fingers.

Hate and fear gripped her heart and she shut it down before anything could happen. She felt her magic retreat into her mind, hiding like a scorned pup.

“Wanda?” Steve asked again and she blinked at him.

_He left you._

_They all left you._

Wanda felt tears sting her eyes but pushed the tears back and turned away from Steve.

“Wanda, please,” he pleaded, hurt clear in his voice.

But she was hurt, too, and a large part of it had to to with the man in front of her. Or at least that’s what she thought at that moment.

“Steve,” Sam spoke up. “Let’s give her some time. She dealt with a lot back there. A lot more that what any of us had to deal with.”

She felt him stand and then lips were on her forehead.

“I’m sorry, Wanda. I failed you.”

She let her tears fall when she was sure no one was looking at her.

X_X_X

“She’s still not eating?” Steve asked one of the Wakandan helpers as they carried out Wanda’s uneaten tray of food from her room.

The man shook his head sadly.

It had been two days since he’d gone to break Sam and Wanda out of the compound. Clint and Scott had been forced to take a different route so they could still be with their families, and Steve didn’t blame them for taking that option.

With a sigh, Steve thanked the man and knocked on Wanda’s door. He got no answer and leaned his forehead on her door. He didn’t know what else to do to get her to talk, to eat, to at least let him see her.

“She’s still not responding?” Bucky asked, walking out from his own room.

“No,” Steve answered, walking over to his friend. “I don’t know what else to do to get her to do _something._ ”

Bucky hesitated for a breath.

“She screams at night,” he said. Steve looked up and Bucky pointed to his room.

“She’s right next to me, I can hear what she does. Most of the time there’s no movement, but sometimes she screams. They’re not very loud. It’s more like a whisper,” he said.

Steve looked at the door.

“I failed her, Buck. I promised her I wouldn’t leave her behind and that’s exactly what I did. And all the things she had to go through those few days she was locked up… God, it makes me so angry with those people, and Tony, but mostly myself. I shouldn’t have left her behind.”

Bucky shook his head.

“Don’t, Steve. If anyone’s at fault it’s me, I’m the one who took you to Siberia under the impression that Zemo wanted to use the other Winter Soldiers to destroy an empire,” he said.

Steve shook his head.

“You didn’t know what he was planning. You took what you knew and you helped us with that. Don’t blame yourself,” he said.

“Then don’t you blame yourself either, Steve.”

They smiled at each other and went downstairs, talking about the few things they’d seen of Wakanda so far.

Wanda sat motionless in her bed, staring at the door.

X_X_X

“Hungry?” A voice called behind her.

Wanda jumped and her magic was at her hands before she shook it off with a start.

Bucky watched with confusion.

“Why do you reject them?” he asked.

Wanda shook her head and walked backwards until her back hit the kitchen sink.

“You know, bread and water aren’t very filling,” he said, walking towards the refrigerator. He pulled out a carton of milk and walked over to a cupboard to pull out some cereal.

“Want some?” he asked as he left the things on the island and got himself a bowl. She shook her head.

“Why?” he asked, serving himself his cereal.

Wanda looked at the exit with longing.

“You know I could catch you, right?” he asked.

Wanda closed her eyes and took a gentle deep breath. The ache was still too much and her hand went up to her throat.

“It hurts,” he stated. “Is that why you won’t eat or talk?”

Wanda looked away from him and went back to the counter where her ‘meal’ was.

“Why don’t you tell Steve?” Bucky asked. “He’s worried sick about you. You can’t just drop a boyfriend like that, Wanda.”

_Boyfriend?_ She thought. Her eyes widened. Bucky thought _she_ was dating _Steve?_

Wanda snorted and winced as the harsh movement hurt her throat.

“What? Am I wrong?” he asked.

Maybe it was Wanda’s imagination, but she heard hope underneath his inquiry.

She nodded.

The two remained quiet for a few awkward minutes.

“I’ve never seen him care for someone like that. It made me think something was going on between you two even though I saw him kiss that blonde girl. My apologies for misinterpreting the situation,” he said at last.

Wanda tilted her head to the side in question.

“The blonde? I think her name was Sharon? She was with the CIA and helped us escape,” Bucky said.

Wanda nodded but confusion still lingered on her face.

“I thought…” she tried to say, but her voice was barely audible. She swallowed hard as the words felt like knives going up her throat.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to talk,” he said, glancing up from his cereal.

“We could try it like before, remember?” he asked. “We’d be able to hide all sorts of conversations from HYDRA.”

Wanda smiled at him and his eyes crinkled with happiness.

“Buck, are you in here?” Steve called out before stepping into the kitchen.

He froze at seeing Wanda in there.

He glanced between his best friend and the girl he’d come to view as a sister.

“What…?” he asked, confusion and hurt tainting his words.

“Hey, relax, Steve,” Bucky said from his seat. “I kind of cornered her in here while she was eating.”

Steve looked at her small portion of bread and water.

“That’s not very filling,” he said, repeating the same thing Bucky had told her.

She felt her lips lift in amusement.

“That’s what I told her,” Bucky said. “But I think it’s all she can tolerate right now.”

Their eyes focused on the burn mark on her throat and she self-consciously pulled her cardigan around herself, trying to hid the burned flesh.

“Wanda,” Steve’s voice broke. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know how I’ll ever make this up to you.”

He took a step closer and Wanda hesitated.

Looking upon his fallen face she couldn’t help herself and ran into him, wrapping her arms around him as tightly as she could. She smooshed her face into his chest and took a deep breath. His scent filled her nose and soothed all the aches she had.

His arms automatically wrapped around her and held her tightly.

Bucky watched with a smile as the two people he cared about reunited.

_I love you, Steve. Nothing will change that,_ Wanda thought at him, hiding her face into his chest as if trying to become one with him.

Steve’s answering laugh came out like a sob and she felt the vibrations against her cheek.

“I love you, too, kid,” he said with a moist kiss to her head.

Wanda poked her eyes from over Steve’s arms to look at Bucky. He was smiling at the two. When he felt her gaze his eyes shifted to hers.

After what felt like an eternity, both of them smiled at each other simultaneously.

Wanda knew that none of this made anything go away, nor did it make the conversations they needed to have disappear, but she knew that despite everything they’ve been through and everything they felt, they would all be alright in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: THIS IS NOT THE END. I know it seems like a good place to end and perhaps start a sequel, but I want to keep all of this in one story. So while it sounds like an ending, it’s not. Another update will come either on Monday night or sometime Tuesday.


	20. Introductions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I’m half dead as I’m uploading this, a new norm for Monday updates, sadly. I’m running out of ideas, so chapters may begin to get shorter or a little more boring. I’m trying to figure out how to wrap all of this up nicely (yes, that means we’re nearing the end). I hope you enjoy this chapter!  
> Like always, I don’t own anything.

“You know, it’s a bit chilly to be out here without a jacket,” came Steve’s voice from behind Wanda.

She turned and saw him making his way over to her with something in his hands. As he got closer she saw it was a thermos.

As if noticing her stare, Steve lifted the container.

“Thought we could use this time to chat over a cup of hot chocolate. I remember you saying you preferred it to coffee,” he said with a smile. 

She watched as he came to sit next to her on the blanket she’d spread out on the hill. From there she could see the forest surrounding the king’s palace. 

Wanda took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. 

“Wanda, it’s been a week. We have to talk about it at some point,” Steve said gently.

She nodded her head and looked at him.

“I didn’t know they’d put you there. I thought Tony would protect all of you and make sure you got the best treatment, but I guess I expected too much.”

“He’s’ not to blame,” Wanda whispered, although she wanted so much to place all of the blame on Tony. “He was distracted.”

Steve opened the thermos and offered her the first sip. With caution, she drank the sweetened drink.

“Sam told me what they did to all of you. It’s unfair that you had to suffer the most and it makes me so… so… so  _ mad  _ that I want to hunt down those men and kill them with my own hands,” Steve said in a low growl.

Wanda handed him back the drink to distract him.

“Clint probably already did. Or Natasha. They’re good at that,” she whispered. 

Steve looked at her and she could read the guilt in his face.

“Steve, stop,” she said. “What happened, happened. And yes, it hurts, but I don’t want to keep thinking about it. You rescued me from that place.”

“But it’s my fault you were there in the first place,” he answered back. 

Wanda shook her head. 

“You could place the blame on anyone. Tony for bringing us in. You for leaving us behind. HYDRA for placing us in this situation with these skills. But that doesn’t matter, Steve. In the end  _ those  _ men made their decisions and are the only ones truly to blame. They paid with their sanity,” Wanda finished with a dry smirk. 

Steve took a drink of hot chocolate and looked out at the forest. 

“Yeah, Sam told me about the guy you killed. Usually I’m against that, but I’m proud of you. I didn’t know you could do… that,” Steve said, using his hands to make the motion of something exploding. 

“Yeah,” Wanda said. “I did something similar a few times with HYDRA. If there’s one thing I’m kind of glad I learned was that I have more power than I know, and that no man or woman will make me bend over for them.”

She took the drink back and took some.

“I’ve noticed,” Steve said. “That you haven’t used your powers much. Besides talking to me a few nights ago, you’ve been avoiding them.”

The hot chocolate went down the wrong tube and Wanda choked. Steve pat her back a few times until she stopped coughing. 

“You okay?” he asked. She nodded.

“I think… I think I’m just scared that using them will cause something bad to happen. Like, I’ve done more bad than good with them and if I didn’t have them then maybe none of this would have happened,” she said.

“Stop blaming yourself, you did nothing,” Steve told her.

She huffed in annoyance.

“You know I did. And you’re not the only one allowed to blame themselves, you know.”

Steve laughed. 

“You and Bucky keep telling me that,” he said.

“Then maybe you should listen,” she replied.

A beat passed.

“I trained with him, you know,” Wanda admitted. She looked down at her hands cupped around the thermos. She felt Seve shift, turning his body towards her. 

“Pietro and I, we trained with him in hand to hand combat. I think that’s why I was so good when I went into autopilot,” she teased. 

“You remember that?” Steve asked. She nodded.

“Right before Clint went to get me, I let my magic into my head to see if I could use it against me or something like that. Anyway, it helped me remember how I learned about my magic and how to use it. Then on the ride to get Scott, I turned it on myself again and saw everything,” Wanda said. 

She turned to Steve and smiled weakly. 

“The dreams I had about Bucky were memories I helped him recover. It wasn’t just my imagination thinking of all the horrible things HYDRA could have done to him. All of that  _ did  _ happen.”

Steve sat frozen on the ground. His eyes had widened and Wanda was momentarily afraid that he would be angry at her for not remembering sooner.

“You said you helped him recover his memories?” he finally asked, his voice barely audible.

“Yeah…” she answered hesitantly.

“Wanda… do you think… could you…” 

Wanda watched in fascination as the Captain struggled to use words.

“Do you think… that you could help erase what HYDRA did to him?” he finally asked.

“You want me to erase his memories?” she asked with a furrow to her brow.

“No!” he said straight away. “Not erase his memories, just… reprogram him, in a way. So he doesn’t have any HYDRA programming in him anymore.”

Wanda thought about it. She’d never tried to rewrite someone before. 

“I don’t know, Steve. It’d be hard to remove something without removing a part of him attached to that. Plus, I still don’t know if I’d be that comfortable using my magic on his mind,” she answered honestly. 

“Can you at least think about it for me?” he asked.

His blue eyes bore into hers and she rolled her eyes as she sighed in defeat.

“Fine,” she said, none too happily.

“Thank you!” he said, giving her a one armed hug.

“By the way,” she started. “You know he thought we were dating?” 

Steve choked on air.

“What? Whatever gave him that idea?” he asked.

Wanda shrugged. 

“Apparently you don’t get too close to girls. Not unless they’re me or Sharon,” she said with a smirk.

Her mirth grew when he tilted his head back and groaned.

“When did you guys even have time to talk about all of this?” he asked, mortified.

“Oh, he mostly just threw information at me. But I nearly ripped my throat apart again to ask more, though. But he’s a good cookie, he kept me from completely destroying my vocal chords,” she said.

“Yeah, he’s a good one,” Steve said, hoping to distract her.

“So when did you kiss Sharon?  _ Why  _ did you kiss Sharon? Isn’t it weird to kiss your first love’s niece? Didn’t you and Nat have something going on?” Wanda asked.

Steve flushed and stumbled over his words.

“I… It didn’t mean anything! Its… I mean… It just kinda happened, you know? As a thanks for helping us, kind of kiss. Peggy would have understood. She-” he cut off with a jerk.

“Wait. Me and…  _ Nat? _ ” he asked, as if he couldn’t believe what she’d told him.

“Steve,” she said. “ _ Everyone _ can see the chemistry there.”

“There’s not… We’re just friends. Really good friends, is all.”

Wanda felt a grin take over her face.

“Oh, Steve,” she said with laughter in her voice. “Everyone can see that you and Nat are itching for  _ fondue.” _

Wanda’s laugher echoed in the trees and Steve could have died of embarrassment, but it was worth it to see the smile on her face.

X_X_X

“Hey, Buck,” Steve said, walking in on his friend reading a book in the living room.

“Sup, Steve,” Bucky answered back.

“I’ve been thinking-” he said.

“Nope,” Bucky cut him off with the snap of his book.

“You don’t even know what I was going to say,” the Captain complained.

“Don’t want to. I’m going into cryosleep and there’s nothing you can do to convince me otherwise,” he said.

“Oh darn, and here I was all ready for my part of the presentation,” Wanda’s voice came from behind Steve.

Looking around the super soldier, Bucky saw Wanda in a loose red dress with her hair down. She was smiling at him and it took his breath away.

“We’ve been thinking… What if we let Wanda give it a try first? Maybe she can remove everything HYDRA put in your mind to control you,” Steve said, pulling her closer with an arm around her shoulder. 

“It’ll be similar to the last time,” she said, turning her vibrant blue eyes on Bucky. “We’ll walk around and see what we can find. Once we get into the pattern, your mind will supply us with the rest.”

“I don’t know,” Bucky said after a few seconds.

“Well, it isn’t a no,” Wanda said.

“Which practically means yes,” Steve added.

Bucky felt his lips twitch in amusement.

“Is it something you’re okay with?” he asked Wanda.

He knew she had been avoiding her powers since she was brought here, but she’d been spending a lot of time with Steve, so maybe she’d started getting comfortable with them again.

She shrugged.

“I’m a lot more comfortable with my magic if I can’t see it. So right now the mental stuff is what I’m able to do with little hesitation,” she supplied.

He looked at Steve.

“It’s worth a shot,” he said. “If you don’t like it or it doesn’t work, then you can go ahead with your original plan.”

“I suppose…” Bucky started but he couldn’t finish because Steve cut him off with a hug.

“Great! I’ll go inform Shuri,” he said before turning to hug Wanda and then scampering off.

“Okay…?” Bucky murmured to himself.

“He’s just excited. You don’t know how many nights he spent complaining about you and your decision to be frozen. He’s finally got you and you want to be sleeping instead,” Wanda said.

Bucky looked over at her and she flushed slightly.

“I only want to do what would be safest for everybody,” he said.

“I know,” she answered with a smile. 

They stood awkwardly for a moment.

“Wanda?” Bucky finally asked. 

Her head snapped to look at him. The intensity in her eyes momentarily distracting him.

“I, uh, just want to ask about… Well, about us,” he said, bringing his metal hand up to rub the back of his neck.

She blinked at him in confusion.

“Us? We’re not… I mean, what happened in HYDRA was… a while ago,” she said weakly.

“Yes, it was,” he said. “Which is why I want to get to know you as you are now, as a friend. Without all of the past stuff pressuring us or causing awkward bumps.”

Wanda’s face beamed up at him. 

“I’d like that,” she said. 

With a grin of his own, Bucky held out his hand.

“Hi, I’m James Buchanan Barnes. You can call me Bucky,” he said. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Bucky. I’m Wanda Maximoff,” she answered, placing her hand into his. 

As they shook hands their eyes met and neither one could be bothered to hide the goofy grins on their faces. 


	21. Fixings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Sorry for the late update, I was debating whether or not to write today. Anyway, please enjoy! And also, I don’t own anything.

“Alright, I’m ready,” Bucky said as he sat on the ground in front of Wanda.

She raised her eyebrow at him and he fidgeted once more.

“Buck, come on. It’s Wanda, she wouldn’t hurt you,” Steve said from her bed. Bucky glanced at him and kept squirming around.

“Hey, Steve? I think I sense Nat close by. Why don’t you go check?” she said, knowing he’d jump up at the opportunity to see her again.

As expected, he sprung up from her bed. 

“Are you sure? I could stay here for a while longer, until you’re done,” he said, but he was already halfway to the door.

“It’s fine, Steve, go get her,” she said with a wink.

Bucky picked up on it. 

“Wait, who’s Nat?” he asked.

“A friend-”

“His crush-”

Steve and Wanda looked at each other with playful glares. 

“Damn, Steve. I didn’t know you had it in you. Two girls at once? That’s wild,” Bucky said with a smirk.

“It’s not like that,” Steve groaned.

The two on the floor grinned up at him and he let out an exasperated sigh.

“If you two are done now, I’m going to go greet Natasha,” he said, closing the door behind him with a little more force than was needed.

“Thank you,” Bucky said, turning back to Wanda.

“Yeah, no problem. I know he can be a little overbearing sometimes. It’s like his mind is going into overprotective dad mode,” she said with a small laugh. 

Bucky grinned. “Yeah, that’s a surprisingly accurate description.”

“Alright, are you ready now?” she asked. 

He took in a deep breath and nodded.

“Whenever you are,” he said. 

Wanda placed her fingertips lightly on his temples. 

His blue eyes locked on hers and she shivered. 

“As soon as you want to stop, just let me know. I’ll stop,” she said. 

Bucky brought his hand up to touch her wrist lightly. 

“I trust you,” he said.

Closing their eyes, they were both pulled into his mind.

Wanda walked around his mind, a lot more crowded than the last time she was in it. She smiled. It meant he remembered most of everything. 

“Hey,” came his tranquil voice from behind her. 

“Hey,” she said, turning to face him. 

“It’s a bit more full than the last time I was here,” she said with a smile.

“It is,” he said, looking around at the files and screens and whatever else his mind had decided to use to give form to his memories. 

“There’s a lot more than the average brain,” she said. 

“Well, when you’ve lived for over 100 years…” he trailed off.

“Right,” she said awkwardly. “Um, we should probably get started.”

Bucky looked at her. 

“Where do we start? There’s so much here.”

Wanda hesitated. 

“Well, I could try to find the programmings in here, but since I don’t know the timeline all that good, and your subconscious probably doesn’t trust me, it would be difficult to get close enough to the base of it.

“Although, it would be best for you to call the memories. Ideally, I want you to be the one to find these things and crush them yourself. It’ll help you find peace with it. And if for whatever reason some of it resurfaces, it would be easier for you to control since you already dealt with it in here,” Wanda explained. 

Bucky nodded and took a step closer to her. 

“Alright, we can do that. Just don’t leave me alone, please?” he said, sounding slightly scared.

Wanda stepped closer and took his hand in hers.

“Never.”

X_X_X

The pair had gone through each word programmed into his mind and each time they ripped the ties HYDRA had on each one, a little bit of the clutter cleared. Wanda could also see the change in Bucky. His face became more neutral, his stance became less hunched. Even as he spoke, there was more confidence in his words.

Wanda noticeably flinched back when they got to the last word and he had called to him all the memories related to that. It was difficult seeing herself in his mind, screaming for him to remember.

It didn’t help that in his mind, she could also sense what he was thinking or feeling. The guilt he felt was more intense.

“I think that’s everything,” he said. Sweat lightly covered his face and he was flush with the work he put into removing HYDRA from his brain.

“God, Bucky. I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that,” she said, slightly choking on her words. 

She’d been right when she told him in the HYDRA base that they hadn’t gotten to all the memories he had. There was a lot shittier things they’d done to him.

“It’s fine, it’s gone now. Thank to you,” he said, offering her a small smile. 

“Technically, you did all the hard work. I just stood by and watched.”

His smile grew and she returned it.

“So, what now?” he asked.

Wanda shrugged. Then as fast as lighting, she spoke the words in Russian. 

Bucky blinked at her. 

“You know, I never actually knew what they meant. At least until Pierce came in not knowing Russian and had them program me for the English words as well,” he said.

She repeated the words in English and he grinned at her.

“It worked!” he exclaimed. 

In his excitement, he grasped Wanda in a hug and spun her around.

She laughed until he abruptly set her down.

“I’m so sorry! I don’t know what came over me,” he apologized.

Wanda only grinned and hugged him back.

“It’s alright, I understand. I’m so proud!” she said.

They stood hugging until they realized how long they stood in each other’s arms. With a sheepish smile, they pulled away.

“So…” he began, cursing himself for not knowing what to do. Back in his era he wouldn’t have been in a situation like this. 

Wanda held back her smile as he continued to think about his life.

Which brought something else to the front of her mind.

“Oh! Nat is probably here by now,” she said. 

Bucky’s face lit up. 

“I can’t wait to finally meet the girl Steve’s crushing on!” 

At this Wanda’s face fell.

“Well,” she started. “You kind of already know her.”

“Oh, right. She was at the airport, right? The redhead? I didn’t really get a chance to look at her, though,” he said. 

Wanda took in a deep breath.

“Um… Not exactly. You met her before then,” she said. 

Bucky thought hard about it.

“Oh, right! In DC she was fighting alongside Steve. And I think I met her in Odessa, maybe. And then…” His face went blank. 

“Natalia?” he finally asked.

“Yeah, that’s her,” she answered. 

Bucky remained quiet for a few minutes.

“I guess that explains why Steve refuses to see her as anything else other than a friend,” he finally said. “Assuming he knows.”

“She told him,” Wanda said, glancing down at her hands. 

A hand grasping her own made her look up.

“Come on,” he said with a smile. “Let’s go hook Steve up with my ex.”

Wanda felt her lips twitch into a smirk. 

“That’s still a hell of a lot better than hooking up with his ex’s niece.”

With a laugh, they withdrew from his mind.

X_X_X

Wanda and Bucky made their way down the hallway into the large opening where the Avengers in hiding were located. Neither of them seemed to mind that as soon as they exited her room their hands had instantly connected. 

When they entered the room the conversation stopped. 

“Bucky, Wanda! Did everything work out alright?” Steve asked.

They both nodded. 

“Everything should be out, but if it’s not, I’m sure we can deal with it. The main concern were the words, and those are out,” Bucky said. 

Wanda noticed Steve’s gaze shift to their intertwined hands and a slow grin spread across his face. 

Wanda blushed and turned to Natasha.

“Nat! How have you been?” she asked, letting go of Bucky to give the redhead a hug. 

“Good so far. Being on the run is nothing new to me, you know. You?” Nat asked. 

“Oh, you know. I can’t complain. Not since getting here, anyway,” Wanda answered. 

Nat’s eyes hardened.

“Don’t worry, I took care of them,” she whispered into Wanda’s ear as she leaned in for a hug.

“Thank you,” she replied, holding tightly onto Natasha. 

They pulled apart and Wanda returned to her spot next to Bucky. She took notice of the tension in the room.

“What’s going on?” Bucky asked, cearly having picked up on it too.

“Nothing,” Steve answered too quickly. “We were just discussing plans and whatnot. Actually, T’Challa said he’d be more than happy to let you stay here while you recover. You know, for a small period of time until we know everything is good.”

“Yeah, that’s cool,” Bucky said. 

Wanda tilted her head at Steve and he skimmed over her gaze.

“Hey, sorry for taking so long. It was hard to get the suit away from Shuri but I’m here now,” Sam said, rushing into the room. On his back was a small backpack and at his side was a case which she recognized as the one carrying his wings.

“Are we going somewhere?” Wanda asked. 

Nat looked at Steve, who looked at Sam, who looked right back at Steve.

“Actually, it’s just us three going. I want you to stay here,” he said, finally meeting her eyes. 

Wanda felt like she’d been punched in the stomach. 

“Why?” she asked quietly. 

“I’ll just go make sure that we have everything in the jet,” Natasha said, quickly walking out of the room. 

“I’ll join you,” Sam said, following her.

Wanda’s eyes stayed locked on Steve.

She felt Bucky come up beside her.

“Steve?” he asked for her.

Steve sighed.

“I just want you both to be here and help each other recover from this mess. I know you’ve both dealt with a lot,” he finally said.

“Bullshit,” Wanda said. 

“It’s the truth!” he defended himself.

“A partial truth,” Bucky amended. 

Steve turned to glare at his friend.

“You’re not helping me, here,” Steve accused.

Bucky shook his head.

“The lady just helped me get rid of HYDRA’s poison- I’m going to help her,” he said.

Wanda crossed her arms and waited for Steve to explain.

He couldn’t look at her.

“You know,” Wanda began, “When I was at the Avenger’s base and Vision wouldn’t let me out, I thought, ‘Whoa, it sure feels like I’ve been abandoned,’ but then I told myself ‘No, you haven’t been abandoned. Steve will come back for you, he’d never leave you.’”

Steve flinched.

“Then you  _ promised _ you’d never leave me again only to leave me,  _ again _ , not even an hour later,” she accused, taking a step towards him.

“Then all the shitty stuff happened and I felt like everyone had abandoned me. But then you were there and I thought, ‘Finally, he came back for me, I knew I could trust him.’ And then, guess what?” she said in a choked sob. 

She turned to Bucky. “He wants to leave  _ again! _ ”

Wanda felt her eyes sting and then two arms wrapped around her. The metal arm and the flesh one putting her off balance.

“Wanda,” Steve said, his own voice thick with emotion. 

“It’s fine, Steve,” she said.

“Go, it’s fine. I’m used to it. I’m no stranger to being left behind, to being the last one noticed. I’m used to being sacrificed for the ‘greater good,’” she said with disdain in her voice. 

“I get it, I’m no Bucky or Tony or Vision or even Nat,” she said, reaching up to wipe the tears that had started to fall. “No offense, Buck,” she said as an afterthought.

“It’s fine,” he said, wrapping his arms tighter around her.

“I’m sorry, Wanda,” Steve said, looking down at his shoes. “I just didn’t want to bring you along and risk getting you hurt.”

“Well, you’re already doing that,” she said with a sigh. She pulled out of Bucky’s arms and turned to walk out of the room. 

“Wanda, wait,” Steve said, reaching out to grasp her arm. She turned to look at him.

“I really am sorry. I just want to keep everything I hold dear to me away from danger. Away from the risk of being caught. I don’t want you to go through everything you went through again because of me. Not again,” he confessed.

His blue eyes were shining with unshed tears and through his look, he let her know how sorry he was, but he wouldn’t change his mind.

Wanda bit her bottom lip. 

“Okay,” she finally said. “I’ll stay behind if it makes you feel better.”

Steve pulled her into a hug and she wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into his chest. 

“Thank you, Wanda,” he said.

“But I’ll be keeping tabs on you guys,” she said, pulling back just enough to look up at him. “And if I think you guys need help, even for a second, I’ll be there. Alright?”

Steve smiled down at her.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Pulling her in for one more hug, Steve kissed her forehead and let her go.

“Goodbye, Buck,” he said,

“Later, punk,” Bucky said with a smile.

Steve looked at them as they unknowingly stepped closer to one another and smiled. He had a good feeling about leaving them to look after one another. 


	22. Settling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Here’s chapter 22, I hope you enjoy it! As I was finishing this up it hit me that… there might be only one or two more chapters left. It’s really happening, this fic is coming to an end.   
> Anyway, like always, I don’t own anything.

A week passed since Steve left and the duo were slowly accepting life in Wakanda. Bucky had his metal arm removed and had been sent to help out in the farms. 

Wanda, on the other hand, had been dragged by Shuri into her labs and was there mostly to offer an ear. It turned out that the Wakandan princess was rarely allowed to go out and make friends with other girls around her age. Wanda was more than happy to follow the younger girl around and chat about anything and everything.

“Whoa, hold up,” Shuri said, holding her hand out to stop Wanda from taking another step. “Why didn’t you tell me you were good at chemistry?” 

Wanda shrugged. 

“I didn’t think I was good. I only studied things in books when I was at the Avengers base. Tony said he’d help me get into college but that never happened,” she said bitterly. 

“Wanda!” the younger girl exclaimed.

Wanda took a step back in confusion.

“Shuri!” she said back.

“I could have had you helping in the lab! We could work here together instead of you just watching me,” Shuri said happily.

“Aww, but I like watching you. You’re the sunshine to my day,” Wanda said teasingly.

The other girl laughed and began shooting different ideas at her, which Wanda was more than happy to help in. In exchange for helping in the lab, Shuri would make sure to give her the material required for getting her high school education completed. 

From that day on, Wanda spent most of her days in the lab, this time working on her own projects for the place that was giving her refuge. 

However, Wanda soon noticed that without Shuri’s presence, other Wakandan’s would glare at her and talk behind her back. The only reason she knew they were speaking ill of her was because she was able to go into their minds and understand everything they were saying.

“Shuri, I don’t think your people like me,” she said right away as she walked into the lab.

Shuri turned away from her task with a frown. 

“What makes you say that?” she asked.

“Well, they glare at me, for one,” Wanda said, crossing her arms. “And I can read what they’re saying, what they’re thinking.”

Shuri rolled her eyes.

“Ignore them, Wanda. They’re just bitter. Everyone close to us know that you did your best, but not everyone is perfect. We don’t blame you for what happened in Lagos. And those who do don’t deserve your attention,” she said, turning back to her work. 

Wanda thought about what the younger girl said and found herself smiling. She was right, and Wanda would waste no more time on bitter people. She turned to leave but Shuri’s voice stopped her.

“Hey, Wanda,” she called. “T’Challa’s coronation is in a few days. Would you and Bucky like to come? It’s open to all of our residents.”

Wanda smiled.

“Thank you, Shuri, but I personally don’t think I’ll go. I don’t want to cause discomfort to those still not used to me- it would ruin a precious experience for them. “

Shuri smiled and dropped her utensils to give Wanda a hug.

“You’re too kind, Wanda. But thank you. I’ll make sure to wear a hidden camera so you can still watch the ceremony,” she said. 

Wanda laughed.

“I’m pretty sure you already have a camera in your outfit somewhere, ready to capture T’Challa’s most embarrassing moments.”

The princess grinned.

“He makes it too easy.”

X_X_X

“Hey!” Wanda exclaimed, walking around a small tent and seeing Bucky feeding two goats. She took a moment to admire his traditional clothes. They complimented his skin color.

“Hey!” he called back with a grin.

“I’m looking for the White Wolf. The villagers said I could find him here,” Wanda said with a teasing grin.

Bucky laughed. 

“I don’t know where they got that name,” he said with a shake of his head.

“I like it,” Wanda said. “It suits you.”

“You think?” he asked, getting up and making his way over to her. She noticed with amusement that the goats followed him.

“Yeah. It seems that the world’s deadliest assassin was made for the farm life,” she said with a smirk.

“Oh yeah, I’m definitely putting all the training to use. Especially with these two,” he said, tilting his head towards the goats.

One of them came up to her and bumped her hand.

“These are Buddy and Steve,” he said. “Steve’s the most stubborn.”

As if in response, the goat under her hand let out a loud bleat.

Wanda fell into a fit of giggles.

“That’s so fitting,” she said.

Bucky smiled up at her.

“So, is it true you’re moving out here now?” Wanda asked once she’s calmed down.

“Yeah, Shuri thought it would help me get to know myself better. And I enjoy it, so why not? I’m already here from sunrise to sunset anyway.” he said. 

“I’m glad you found something you enjoy,” she said. 

“What about you?” he asked. 

“I’m helping Shuri in the lab. Apparently I’m good at chemistry, but I honestly just feel like she’s making it a bigger deal than it is,” she replied.

“Well, you must be good if she’s letting you work in her lab. I know how picky she is with who she lets touch things in there,” he said, remembering the time when she’d thrown a bead at him when he’d only picked up a pencil.

“I hope so. With everything I’ve done that hurt them, I just want to help out in any way possible.”

“I’m sure you don’t need to do anything. Knowing Shuri and T’Challa, you’re already forgiven,” he said. 

Wanda let out an amused huff.

“Yeah, they tell me that pretty much everyday,” she said. “By the way, are you going to the coronation?”

Bucky shook his head.

“I told T’Challa I didn’t think it’d be good for me to attend. Some people still think I was the one who killed their previous king. You?” he asked. 

“Nope, for pretty much the same reason, except I killed 11 of their people instead of their king,” Wanda said softly.

They both watched as the goats got bored and ran off into the distance.

“Hey, would you like to join me for dinner tonight?” Bucky asked. “It’s the first meal I made by myself in a long time. With organic ingredients, too.”

His hopeful grin melted Wanda’s heart.

“I’d love to,” she said. 

He invited her into his tent and she watched with fondness as he explained what he did everyday on the farm.

X_X_X

Wanda watched as everyone around her became tense as the hours passed. T’Challa had gone out to retrieve Klaue and apparently everyone wanted him dead. Or at least punished for stealing their vibranium. Even Shuri was distracted, saying she needed to be available to her brother at all times. 

Wanda found herself walking a lone, familiar path to a hidden section of Wakanda.

“Wanda, what are you doing here?” Bucky asked as she came close to his designated land. 

“Uh, I just wanted to talk, I guess. Everyone in the castle is on edge and it’s stressing me out,” she said.

Bucky walked closer and observed her.

“There’s more,” he stated.

Wanda took in a deep breath and looked around her. 

It was nearing night time and she could see the stars clearly in the sky as they appeared. Suddenly she felt silly for wearing a sleeveless dress out since it was doing very little to protect her from the cool air. 

“Come on, let’s get you next to the fire,” Bucky said, sensing her discomfort.

“I had him in front of me,” she said. 

Bucky looked at her in confusion.

“Klaue, I had him in front of me. Pietro and I were sent to intimidate him, to get him to give us the vibranium. He escaped, and now he’s bothering the Wakandans again,” she explained. 

“And you feel guilty?” he asked.

Wanda nodded.

“You and Steve, what am I going to do with you two,” Bucky said, glancing up at the sky.

Wanda snorted.

“I’m not as bad as he is,” she said.

“But you’re nearly there,” he replied without missing a beat. 

Wanda knew that was true, so she shrugged. 

“You don’t seem very comfortable or relaxed there,” Bucky said after a while.

“I’m not,” she said.

“So why do you stay?” he asked.

Wanda hesitated.

“I’ve nowhere else to go,” she said, looking down at her hands. Her black nail polish was coming off already and she’d just painted them on two days ago.

“Wanda,” Bucky said gently. She looked up at him and his blue eyes sparkled with the light from the fire.

“You’re more than welcome to stay here with me,” he said, reaching out to take her hands in his.

“I know it’s not much, and you’d probably prefer sleeping in the castle rather than in a tent outside in the middle of nowhere, but my tent is always open for you. I know we could make it work.”

Wanda felt her heart clench in her chest.

“I… I don’t know,” she whispered.

His hand pulled her closer until she could feel his body heat through her dress.

“Wanda, you understand me like no one else. We’ve been through so much together already. There’s something here between us, I can feel it. Can’t you?” he asked. 

Dazed, Wanda nodded her head in confirmation.

“After all this time, after all we’ve been through, here we stand. It makes sense for us to be together, don’t you think?”

Wanda felt her whole world shift and in the center there he stood. 

“Yes,” she whispered, taking a small step closer to him.

Her hands reached up to cup his face and he leaned into her touch. 

“Yes,” she said with a shy smile. “Yes, I’ll stay.”

The grin that spread across his face was breathtaking and Wanda felt herself falling for the way his eyes crinkled with joy.

They both noticed how close they were standing, their breaths mixing in between them.Wanda bit her lip as she looked up into his deep blue eyes, but his gaze was at her lips. 

Wanda didn’t know who pulled who in first, but in the next second their lips were on each others. She ran her hands through his hair and gently pulled. 

Bucky’s answering moan had her melting against him, wanting to get closer and closer until they became one. Based on the way he was pulling her against him with his arm, he wanted the same thing.

With all her will, Wanda pulled away. The smack of their lips broke the silence of the night. 

Bucky rested his forehead against hers and grinned at the bruising of her lips. 

“Welcome home,” he said. 

Wanda felt warmth spread in her body and knew she finally  _ was  _ home. With a carefree laugh, she pressed her lips against his once more.


	23. Closing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! This will be the final chapter. I might do a one-shot sequel about what happened in Infinity War, but that one will end on a sadder note because of the Snap. Also, I’m going to start off this chapter with some M rated stuff (and by stuff I mean sex). So if you don’t want to read through that, feel free to jump ahead to where it says E_N_D_O_F_M.  
> Just an FYI, this chapter picks up where the previous chapter ended.  
> Like always, I don’t own anything.

Bucky ran his hand up Wanda’s back, pulling her flush against him. He could feel all of her through the thin tunic he was wearing and he felt himself getting hard.

Wanda felt his excitement press against her and moaned against his lips. This was not what she was expecting when she came to see him tonight, but she wasn’t going to complain about where they were headed.

“Wanda,” Bucky groaned against her lips. “We should stop.”

“Why?” she mumbled against his mouth.

“Because I don’t know if I’ll be able to control myself if we keep this up.”

Wanda giggled and pulled away, making sure not to step into the fire.

“Bucky, I want this; I want you,” she said, using one hand to gently cup his face.

Looking into her eyes, Bucky saw the truth in them and smiled at her. Gently prying himself free of her grasp, he took one of her hands and led her into his tent. He barely had time to apologize for the lack of bed when Wanda came around and pulled his face down to hers. All thought escaped his mind.

Wanda closed her eyes and craned her head back when Bucky placed sloppy wet kisses down her neck. She moaned in pleasure when he sucked the skin of her breasts. She pulled his hair and brought him back up to her, this time letting her tongue dance with his. With little more than a thought, she let her magic undo the ties of his tunic.

Pulling back, she took the time to admire his well-built body. She could only see his chest, but she knew that if he shifted, the rest of the tunic would fall and expose him to her.

“Enjoying the view, doll?” Bucky said with a smirk and Wanda flushed.

“I will if you take the rest off,” she flirted back.

With a laugh, Bucky stepped back and the clothing fell. He was left in front of her in only his boxers.  

Wanda pouted.

“Alright, my turn,” he said with a grin that made heat pool between her legs.

He pulled her in for a kiss and allowed his hand to go around her, reaching for the zipper, and pulling it down in one easy move.

Wanda shifted a bit to let the dress fall to the floor, leaving her in only bra and panties in front of him.

“You’re so beautiful,” Bucky said as he pulled back to admire her.

Wanda felt herself blush but didn’t look away from the man in front of her.

“Come here,” he said, kneeling by his straw sleeping mat.

Without hesitation, Wanda knelt beside him. The straw poked at her flesh but she ignored it and focused on Bucky. She took notice of the way his hair was a mess thanks to her hands. His lips were plump and red from kissing her, and his face was flushed with arousal.

“Are you sure you want this?” he asked, slightly nervous.

In answer, Wanda reached behind her to undo the clasp of her bra, revealing her perk breasts to him.

Bucky came closer to her, gently claiming her lips with his own as his hand kneaded her breast. Wanda felt goosebumps along her flesh as his hand made contact with her skin.

Leaving a trail of kisses behind, Bucky made his way to her breast and took her nipple into his mouth.

“Ah,” she gasped, as his mouth gently sucked at her left breast while his hand grasped the other. She twitched when his teeth bit down gently.

“Bucky,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper.

“Lie back,” Bucky said as he pulled away.

Wanda did as he asked and watched as he took his boxers off. The sight of him made her breath catch in her throat.

_Gorgeous,_ she thought.

_And so big, too._

“Still alright?” Bucky asked when he saw her looking doubtfully at him.

“Yes,” she whispered.

Bucky knelt by her legs and gently pulled them apart.

Embarrassment washed over Wanda and she fought to keep them together.

“Baby-doll, I can’t do this with your legs closed,” he said teasingly.

“Right,” she said, relaxing her legs and letting him spread them enough so he could kneel between them.

“Do you trust me?” Bucky asked.

“With my life,” she answered.

“Then trust me when I say you’ll enjoy this,” he said.

Then with a wicked gleam in his eyes, he ripped her panties off.

“He- _ey,_ ” she complained but was shut right up when his head leaned down and connected with her sex.

It took all of Wanda’s self control to not explode in pleasure.

His tongue was making her feel things she’d never thought possible and she knew she’d replay this moment in her mind for all of time.

Just as she felt like her body was about to fall apart, Bucky stopped and leaned over with a boyish grin and glistening lips.

“You’re sweet,” he said and Wanda had no idea what to do with that information.

“Am I?” she asked and pulled his lips down to her, tasting her arousal on his lips. The mixture of him and her had Wanda squirming under him.

Bucky pulled back and rubbed his nose against hers.

“Are you ready?” he asked and Wanda nodded.

Bucky knelt back and took himself in his hand, guiding the tip of his member towards her entrance.

“Wait,” she said, grasping his arm before he could enter her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Wanda swallowed and found herself unable to look into his eyes,

“I’ve never done this before,” she timidly said, afraid that he’d reject her for not being experienced.

Sneaking a glance at him she saw his eyebrows pulled together in shock before a gentle smile graced his lips.

“Then I’ll be slow and cherish this gift you’ve given me,” he said.

Wanda felt her heart melt and nodded for him to continue.

He slowly inserted himself inside her and Wanda’s eyes scrunched up in discomfort.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Wanda took a deep breath and nodded.

Bucky leaned over her, using his one arm to support himself, and quickly thrust himself inside her, breaking her hymen.

Wanda held her breath as she felt a pinching inside her. A lone tear fell from her eye.

“I’m sorry, doll,” Bucky said, kissing her tear away.

“It’s okay, just give me a moment,” Wanda said.

After a few seconds it didn’t hurt anymore and she opened her eyes to catch Bucky looking at her with concern. She offered him a smile and leaned up to kiss him. When she pulled away, she wrapped her legs around him, encouraging him to continue.

As he slid in and out of her, Wanda arched against the mat in pleasure. She pulled Bucky down to kiss him and began meeting his thrust with her own.

Bucky moaned against her lips and she felt it across her chest. It only served to fuel her desire.

“Wanda,” Bucky moaned her name.

“Yeah?” she asked in a breathy voice.

“You feel so good,” he said, recapturing her lips and making it impossible for her to talk.

His thrusts became more erratic and her own body felt like it was winding up. In desperation, her hand reached down to where they connected and rubbed her clit. The sensations multiplied and she knew she was close.

“Bucky,” she whimpered.

“I got you, baby-doll,” he said as his thrusts pounded heavily against her.

Wanda looked into his ocean blue eyes and let her mind connect to his, allowing everything she felt to be passed on to him.

“Oh, shit,” he groaned. “Wanda.”

She could feel him twitch inside her as he got closer to his release. Suddenly Wanda felt something that wasn’t her own but added to what she was feeling. Looking up at Bucky, she saw the gleam in his eyes and knew he was sending her his own thoughts, too.

As he pounded harder Wanda’s hand kept rubbing her sensitive bud and together they came in an explosive orgasm.

All she could feel was one wave of ecstasy after another and Bucky’s arm gave out, collapsing on top of her as he, too, lost himself in his own orgasm.

Wanda didn’t know how long they stayed like that before she came around.

“Holy shit,” she said in wonder.

Bucky’s chuckle made her aware that he was still inside her.

“Holy shit is right,” he said.

Bucky then leaned back to slide out of her. Her insides fought to keep him there and she winced when he pulled out.

Wanda felt strangely empty.

“Are you okay?” he asked, turning to lie beside her.

“Perfect,” she said and leaned up to kiss him. She felt his grin against her own.

In between slow kisses, Wanda drifted to sleep while Bucky’s arm held her securely against him.

**E_N_D_O_F_M**

After their first night together, Wanda and Bucky made it a habit to wake up and go to sleep with sex. They were insatiable and both realized how lucky they were to not have been caught yet.

Wanda was cooking lunch when Steve butted his head against hers.

“Hey there,” she said, gently rubbing his chin.

“Sorry, I told him to stay with Buddy, but you know,” Bucky said, coming up to where she sat.

He leaned down to give her a kiss and sat across from her.

“You know, I was listening to the thoughts of the men around here and they said rain season is about to begin,” Wanda said as she served Bucky a plate of the broth she was making.

“I doubt the tent could handle that,” he said with a frown.

Steve tried to stick his head into the pot and Wanda shooed him away with the ladle.

“I’ve been thinking about making a mud house since moving here permanently. I could get started on that,” Bucky said.

“With the two of us it could be ready in less than a day,” Wanda said.

“What do you mean the two of us? I’m making this for us, I don’t expect you to help,” he said, putting a spoonful of broth into his mouth.

Wanda rolled her eyes.

“I know, but I’m helping whether you want it or not,” she said, turning to her own dish.

“No,” Bucky said stubbornly.

Without even looking up, Wanda let her magic grasp his tray and pull it away.

“Hey!” he complained.

Wanda watched in amusement as he pouted and mock glared at her.

“Alright, fine. You’re right, it’ll be much faster with the two of us,” he finally agreed.

With a smirk, Wanda returned his bowl and they continued to eat.

“Bucky! Bucky!” came Shuri’s panicked voice from around the tent.

Wanda and Bucky glanced at each other in worry before setting their plates aside and quickly running over to where Shuri was.

“Shuri, what’s wrong?” Wanda asked.

“Wanda? What are you doing here? Girl, I’ve been looking all over for you inside the palace,” Shuri said, momentarily distracted.

“Oh, I’m, uh, kinda living with Bucky now,” Wanda said.

A slow blush climbed up her face as Shuri’s eyes took on a knowing look.

“Princess? Did something happen?” Bucky asked the young royal.

“Oh, yes! I just wanted to let you guys know that you’re not allowed to leave this area,” she said.

Wanda and Bucky raised their eyebrows.

“Why not?” Wanda asked.

“Well, long story short, a cousin of ours wants to rule Wakanda and he’s against white people so y’all need to stay put,” Shuri said while looking at her bracelet.

“Shit, the fight is about to take place. I have to go!” she said, turning to run away.

“Wait, Shuri! What fight? Can’t we help?” Wanda yelled at her retreating figure.

“No can do! You’ll only make this worse, no offence,” Shuri said, pressing a bead in her hand.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered!” the younger girl said as she disappeared in the distance.

“What the…?” Bucky trailed off.

Wanda didn’t know what was going on but she used her powers to carry her to where Shuri was.

She barely made it a mile before she bumped into something which caused a small shock to course through her.

“What the hell?” she said as she landed on the floor. Bucky was already at her side.

“Are you okay? What was that?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she answered, reaching out.

Her hand touched a wall which lit up with electricity and sent another weak shock at her.

“She trapped us in here,” Bucky said.

“How are we supposed to help now?” Wanda complained.

Bucky looked at her with a smile.

“What?” she asked.

“You’re just like Steve,” he said. “Always ready to go into a fight without any regard for your safety.”

“But Bucky! They’re out there in trouble!” she exclaimed.

“I know. I don’t like it any more than you do, but maybe Shuri had her own reasons for keeping us hidden. We best allow her this, lest we make things worse with our presence,” Bucky said with a small frown.

With a sigh, Wanda nodded her head.

“Come on, let’s finish our lunch,” Bucky said, wrapping his arm around her.

Much slower this time, they made their way back to the tent. They picked up their plates and finished eating in silence.

At least until Steve got his horn stuck in the pot and spilled all their food.

“Steve!” they both yelled.

“Now you’ve done it, you silly goat,” Wanda said, reaching out to grab him before he ran off.

“I don’t know why I keep him,” Bucky said. “He’s always causing trouble.”

Wanda laughed.

“That’s exactly why you keep him and you know it.”

Together they freed Steve who huffed at them in annoyance before strutting away to join Buddy.

“Serves you right, you old goat,” Bucky said with a shake of his head.

Wanda tilted her head at him and smiled.

“What it it?” Bucky asked.

“I just…” Wanda thought about how to explain herself.

“I never imagined my life to be like this. Living in a secluded country with the man I love and our two goats.”

Bucky’s eyes widened at that and a grin spread across his face.

“You found me in such an awful place and yet, here you are. Here _we_ are,” Wanda continued, walking over to him and wrapping her arms around him.

“I love you, Bucky,” she said, looking up into his overjoyed blue eyes.

“I love you, Wanda,” Bucky said and cupped her face with his hand, leaning down to softly kiss her.

“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than here next to you,” he said with all the sincerity he could muster.

Deep down Wanda knew she’d do everything all over again to be here in this moment with him, too.

“Come on, I remember a certain witch telling me she’d help with the mud house,” Bucky said with a crooked smile.

Wanda laughed.

“Yeah, I did.”

Together they spent the rest of their day building their mud house. It turned out perfectly until Steve came running and implanted his horns into the side of the house.


End file.
